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PROCEEDINGS
THE COURT: Court calls cause no. 24-1148-362, In the Interest of the Schaffer children. We're here today on a temporary restraining order.
Mother is present with counsel. Father has been served.
Deputy Roach, did you call the hall?
THE BAILIFF: Yes, sir. No response.
THE COURT: No response. Set for 2:30. It's currently 2:42. So at this time, we will proceed.
Mr. Pfister.
MR. PFISTER: Thank you, Your Honor. John Pfister appearing for the mother, Petitioner Kesia Schaffer.
May the Court take judicial notice of the file, including the return of service that's been on file showing that the Respondent was personally served with citation, along with a notice of this hearing --
THE REPORTER: I'm sorry, counsel. That was way too fast.
THE COURT: Okay. So Court will take judicial notice of the Court's file, which includes the service return, personal service for Elijah Schaffer on file.
You may continue, Mr. Pfister.
MR. PFISTER: You join a long list of court
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reporters that have told me to slow down.
Your Honor, I call the Petitioner Mother.
THE COURT: Please come right up here, ma'am. Please have a seat.
MR. PFISTER: Okay. You're just going to swear her in?
THE COURT: Yes.
Come right up here and raise your right hand, ma'am.
(WITNESS SWORN)
THE COURT: If you would, please have a seat.
MR. PFISTER: Your Honor, may I approach?
THE COURT: Please.
KESIA SCHAFFER, having been first duly sworn, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. PFISTER:
Q. Ma'am, will you state your name for the record?
A. Kesia Schaffer.
Q. You are currently married to Elijah Schaffer?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And how long have y'all been married?
A. Seven years.
Q. And you have two children before the Court?
A. Correct.
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Q. What are their names and ages?
A. [REDACTED] He's three -- almost three.
And [REDACTED] He's one and a half.
Q. And, ma'am, you and your children moved to Texas on November 25th, 2023. Is that correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And prior to that you were residents of Australia. Is that right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. For a few months. And prior to that y'all lived in Florida --
A. Yes, sir.
Q. -- correct? And you, your husband and children all left Florida and y'all leased a house in Denton County, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And that lease took effect on November 25th, 2023?
A. Yes, sir. November 26.
Q. 25. And we're hoping that -- last month -- three months ago?
A. Yes, yes.
Q. Okay. And your intention is to file for divorce as soon as you have six months of residency here in the State of Texas, correct?
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A. Yes.
Q. But in the meantime you have found yourself compelled to file this SAPCR action and to seek a temporary restraining order, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You are concerned about the safety of your children being around your husband, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You are concerned because of your husband's mental health issues, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Among other things.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And specifically, your husband is, for lack of a better term, a professional internet influencer, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. He uses his platform that he has over a million followers and makes money on this, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And he has his political views and some other things and that's how he makes a living?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. But unfortunately a lot of his views are fairly extreme, are they not?
A. Yes, sir.
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Q. In fact, he has got himself banned from the country of Australia, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, one of the things that you're concerned about is that he has told you about some of his mental health diagnoses, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. While he's being treated over here in Denton County?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What are some of the diagnoses that he's told you that he has?
A. He's told me that he's been diagnosed manic and also that his psychiatrist gave him schizophrenia medication, along with Xanax and some other sleeping medication. And I think one is pronounced Seroquel.
Q. You have been so concerned that you left the marital residence a couple of weeks ago, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Right before you filed this action?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You're still a resident of Denton County?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You don't want your husband to know where you live, right?
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A. Yes, sir.
Q. Although you think he probably does anyway, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And you -- Exhibit 1 is what you're asking this Court for, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. If I were to ask you each and every one, this is what you're asking the Court to do, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. To give you sole managing --
THE COURT: Mr. Pfister, slow down.
MR. PFISTER: All right.
Q. -- sole managing conservator of your two children, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You are also asking that any possession and access he has is to be supervised by either -- and we've listed off some others or there's a Denton County list of approved supervisors, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You're also asking that he pay child support. He makes well over a few hundred thousand, right, a year?
A. Yes. From what he's told me like 500,000 a year.
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Q. That's what he makes as an internet influencer, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. For example, the house that you're living in has a lease of how much?
A. Of, I think, around 4,000 a month.
Q. And so Exhibit 2, by the way, is the lease -- true and correct copy of the lease for the house here in Denton County, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And all right -- and you're asking that he also continue to carry the health insurance --
A. Yes, sir.
Q. -- correct? And to carry for the children.
Q. Are you concerned that he's also using illegal drugs?
A. Yes, sir. I don't know. But I -- he's told me that this is the longest he's ever been sober in 12 years. And I have seen him take many illegal drugs and alcohol abuse over the years that we've been married.
Q. As part of that the request is that he be ordered to go take a hair and nail drug test at ARCpoint Denton here in order to have a screening?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You're also ordering that a psychological
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evaluation be done by one of the four people that we have suggested, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. As part of the Court's analysis and order that he pay for that. You've been cut off of all funds, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And so right now you are being supported solely by your parents from Australia?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who are taking turns literally flying here to be with you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Correct? You have no employment here?
A. No.
Q. You are an Australian citizen?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And ultimately you would like to return back to Australia?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Right? But for right now -- this is -- we anticipated this.
Q. You're asking for the injunctions that we've requested here, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
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Q. You're also asking that he be ordered to pay or do -- well, Our Family Wizard and all the other things that are requested here, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, let's just go through the exhibits. Two we've already -- well, let's start off with Exhibit 1 we've offered.
Or I am going to offer Exhibit 1.
THE COURT: Mother's 1 is admitted.
Q. (BY MR. PFISTER) All right. And let me go through real quick the lease -- just to show some of the extremes of some of the things. You have downloaded a number of posts from his public social media?
A. Yes.
Q. And this is what he uses as his platform, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And when he posts these things, they're being posted to literally over a million people, right?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. So one of the things is Exhibit 3 that it shows that he's posted, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And this is a true and correct copy of this post, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
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Q. And you're offering --
we'll offer Exhibit 3.
THE COURT: Mother's 3 is admitted.
Q. (BY MR. PFISTER) So, for example, he says that drugs have been planted. There'll be a public trial by the FBI, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. He thinks the FBI is chasing him now at this point?
A. Yes. He believes the FBI are trying to kill him.
Q. Correct. When we look at Exhibit 4, this is another one of his posts that you had. This is recently, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
MR. PFISTER: Offer Mother's 4.
THE COURT: Mother's 4 is admitted.
(BY MR. PFISTER) Okay. If we move on to Exhibit 5, this is yet another one of his posts, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And, again, he's just ranting, Exhibit 5.
We'll offer Mother's 5.
THE COURT: Mother's 5 is admitted.
(BY MR. PFISTER) Again, we also have threats to your family. He doesn't like your parents, does he?
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A. No. He believes that my parents and my brother are abusing me and my children. And he thinks that they are involved in setting him up and stealing his car and a whole number of things.
Q. Okay. So, again, some of the delusional behaviors, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Mother's 6 is a copy of one of those -- yet another public media post by your husband, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
MR. PFISTER: And we offer Mother's 6.
THE COURT: Mother's 6 is admitted.
Q. (BY MR. PFISTER) Mother's 7 are some direct texts that you had from him, right? Some of his ranting and raving?
A. These are part of the basis that -- your parents, right?
A. Yes, sir.
MR. PFISTER: Offer Mother's 7.
THE COURT: Mother's 7 is admitted.
(BY MR. PFISTER) Mother's 8. These are copies of the medications, prescription drugs that you found at the house that he was taking, correct?
A. Yes.
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Q. And Mother's 9 are the MD Web -- you know, basically description of what each medications is and what it does, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And these are true and correct copies of these photographs and the download, right?
A. Yes.
MR. PFISTER: Offer Mother's 8 and 9.
THE COURT: Mother's 8 and 9 are admitted.
(BY MR. PFISTER) Now, just to give the Court a little example of some of his rantings, we do have a number of audio, very short clips, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. So we're going to start with Mother's 11. This is an audio between you and him that you recorded, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. This was something recently recorded?
A. Yes, sir -- I -- I'm not sure which one this one is.
Q. It's where he's -- it's an audio recording of him.
A. Yeah. This one, I think, is a couple of years old.
Q. It's a couple of years old?
A. Yeah.
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Q. This is historical?
A. Yeah, yes.
Q. So let's just start. We have Mother's 13, 14 and 15. The 13, 14 and 15, as well as 12, are all videos that you have. Well, it is an audio, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And these all bear the voice and image of your husband with the exception of 15, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. 15 is actually a -- another post talking about allegations and quoting your husband, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And one of the concerns you have is they're quoting him, admitting that he abused a child when he was a youth pastor, right? Before he became an internet --
A. Yes, a boy child. Yes.
Q. A little --
A. A 16-year-old boy. Yes, sir.
Q. When he was at -- and so these are part of your -- globally your concerns about him and this video, these things show some of the extreme views and some of the concerns why you have concerns about your children being alone with him, right?
A. Yes, sir.
MR. PFISTER: So I am going to offer 11, 12, 13,
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14 and 15, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Those exhibits are admitted.
MR. PFISTER: Does the Court want me to play them or can I just --
THE COURT: We have entered them into evidence. MR. PFISTER: So I don't need to play them. The Court will just assume we've got them.
Q. Just to summary these show some extreme behavior, anti-Semitic behavior, showing that he has incredibly hostile views about women in general, referring to them as nothing but holes, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is in -- and his -- these are some of the extreme views that got him banned from Australia, correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do all of these things cause you to be concerned about him being alone with your children?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. In fact, you've done everything you can to not let him be alone with these kids, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you're -- you have serious safety concerns to why you left your house that was $4,000 a month in rent to go live in an apartment that he does not know
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about, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you're asking the court to allow you to basically keep them secure there, not tell him where you live, right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Until we absolutely have to.
And let's see how the psychologicals and some of the diagnostics flesh out?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you believe that everything you are asking for is in your child's children's best interest?
A. Yes, I do believe that.
MR. PFISTER: Pass the witness.
THE COURT: All right. I don't have any questions. You may step down, ma'am.
Anything further?
MR. PFISTER: Well, I'll move on some attorney's fees for interim fees.
THE COURT: Okay. As an officer of the Court, you are under oath. You may testify seated from counsel table, as long as you don't talk too fast.
MR. PFISTER: It's that last part that's hard.
THE COURT: I know. And you're not alone.
MR. PFISTER: My name is John Pfister. I'm an
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attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Texas. I have been since 1982.
I am board-certified in the area of family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. I have been continuously board-certified since 2003.
I have been practicing in Denton County for the vast majority of these years -- actually the entirety of those years. I am familiar with reasonable and necessary fees charged by attorneys handling family law, divorce and SAPCR type matters in Denton County, Texas.
My hourly rate is $450 an hour. I have a board-certified paralegal who bills at 250 an hour and an associate attorney who bills at 315 an hour.
I believe that all of these rates are reasonable fees. I would estimate that the total fees that my law firm has incurred for the Petitioner Mother in pursuing this, preparing for this case is about $7,500 for fees representing through that.
I'd estimate that we are going to need a minimum of another $25,000 to finalize this case if the father is going to make an appearance and contest the case.
Mother has no assets at this point, other than the -- her parents showing support. My retainer was paid by her parents.
I pass myself.
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THE COURT: All right.
Anything further?
MR. PFISTER: The only other thing that I will make the Court aware of is that since the filing of this divorce -- or the SAPCR, the father filed a divorce petition in the State of Florida.
He arranged for mother to be served like three days ago. There is no hearings pending in that court, no orders have been issued by that court.
We have retained a Florida attorney to file a plea and abatement. The opinion of the Florida attorney is that no one is a resident of the State of Florida because they've all left. And so he anticipates getting it.
But I want the Court to be aware that there is a competing court that might issue orders in the future.
THE COURT: Okay. If you get served in that and need me to do a conference with the -- any judge in which that case is filed, under UCCJEA, I will.
MR. PFISTER: I will let you know. But in the meantime, I am anticipating that our Florida counsel will file a plea and abatement and a special appearance and will arrange for that case to be dismissed. He already anticipates the judge he knows -- he thinks the court will dismiss it without the need of troubling you with a
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phone call.
THE COURT: Okay. Well --
MR. PFISTER: But I did want the Court to know that and brought it to the record.
THE COURT: Thank you very much. That's on the record.
Based on the evidence, I will grant the relief requested, including the TRO, as well as attorney's fees and interim attorney's fees going forward.
So please present an order.
MR. PFISTER: Yes, sir.
(SHORT PAUSE)
THE COURT: So we will go back on the record.
MR. PFISTER: Your Honor, I realize we left off Exhibits 2 and 10 and move to reopen the case to admit Exhibits -- Mother's Exhibits 2 and 10.
THE COURT: All right. They were discussed. So I will grant the request and Mother's 2 and 10 are admitted.
MR. PFISTER: Thank you.
(PROCEEDINGS CONCLUDED)
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THE STATE OF TEXAS )
COUNTY OF DENTON )
I, Crystal Butler, Official Court Reporter in and for the 362nd District Court of Denton County, State of Texas, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing contains a true and correct transcription of all portions of evidence and other proceedings requested in writing by counsel for the parties to be included in this volume of the Reporter's Record, in the above-styled and numbered cause, all of which occurred in open court or in chambers and were reported by me.
I further certify that the Reporter's Record of the proceedings truly and correctly reflects the exhibits, if any, admitted, tendered in an offer of proof, or offered into evidence.
I further certify that the total cost for the preparation of this Expedited Reporter's Record is $357 and was paid/will be paid by Mr. Nelson Law Group.
WITNESS MY OFFICIAL HAND this the 24th day of March, 2024.
/sneed/ Crystal Butler
CRYSTAL BUTLER, CSR 13835
Expiration 12/31/2024
Official Court Reporter
362nd District Court
1450 East McKinney Street
Denton County, Texas 76209
(940) 349-2342
