Paul Thompson

Dear Honorable Judge Susan Oki Mollway,

My name is Jessica Thompson. I am the mother to two amazing boys James (9) and Christopher (almost 6) Thompson. I graduated from McGill University in 2003 (considered the Harvard of Canada), received an MA in Shakespearian Studies from the Shakespearian Institute, Birmingham University in the UK (2004) and an Executive MBA from Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto in Canada (2007). I worked in the UK from 2004-2009, during which time the company I worked for (Mercado which later became Adobe) sponsored me to me stay in the UK.

When I returned to Toronto, Ontario, I started to work for Salesforce Inc, one of the top IT cloud companies in the world. They contributed financially towards my Executive MBA studies, as well as enabled me to have the necessary time off to complete my studies at Rotman. I earned an income of about 150,000 CAD plus bonuses which was very respectable for a 29 year old.

In September 2010, I met Paul Thompson online through Plenty of Fish. Before meeting, I went to India for my EMBA studies. We then met in person on October 30th, 2010 and first started to live together Jan 2011.

From early on in our relationship, we experienced difficulty. We first saw a couple’s counsellor in Dec 19, 2012. He then gave me an ultimatum stating that if I ever wanted to have children with him, I would have to start to eat meat again. I had been a vegetarian for 14 years. I agreed to this and began to eat meat. Not long after, I stopped working at Salesforce and did not work. Paul and I were engaged Feb 14, 2013 and I was pregnant with our first born James May 2013. Paul and I married June 8, 2013. During our honeymoon we went on a Celebrity cruise. During the cruise, Paul was so angry with me he ripped out a cabinet drawer and broke it. I called front desk asking if I could move to another room but I was informed the ship was sold out.

The next month, July 2013, when we were back in Etobicoke, Paul and I were driving. I thought we needed to make a left hand turn. I was wrong. Paul was so angry at me for not knowing the correct directions that he started to yell and said I had to leave the house. I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. Paul called the police to [residential address redacted] to have the police ask me to leave the house.

At 3 months pregnant with James, I moved in with my sister and her husband at [residential address redacted] for two weeks before Paul asked me to come back to Rathgar. He proceeded to wipe out the amount of money in our joint account which was around $5000 and changed the locks.

In Oct, 2013, we did another round of couples counselling with a different counsellor. In Jan 19, 2014, James Thompson was born. Between Mar-Dec 2014 I took James to several play groups like George Hull, Lakeshore Moms, walks and play at High Park etc…Paul did not come to a single play group even when available. He also did not take James himself. He never put James to bed. I felt like a single mother. From June to August 2014, James and I went to Pointe au Baril to cottage for a total of 1 month. Paul did not join us despite me asking him to come.

On Jan 19, 2015, I organized a birthday party for James at [residential address redacted]. I purchased all the presents for James and organized the attendance list. Paul did not assist nor financially contribute. I was a stay at home mother. He never joined us on the weekends to Collingwood (chalet countryside) nor his extracurricular activities.

In June 2016, Paul and I purchased a matrimonial home [residential address redacted]. We had initially decided to remain at [residential address redacted] while we did renovations. This ended up taking 2 years because Paul felt that every single contractor was trying to cheat us or was incapable at their job. July 2017 Paul was so angry with me he punched a hole in the wall and picked up a chair, slammed it to the ground and broke it. I took pictures of these items. During this year, Paul also would often not join us for Christmas or James’ birthdays because he chose to work. He was paid double on special holidays, and often chose to work those days versus being with his kids and I. This often left James extremely sad. On Jan 19, 2018, James’ birthday, Paul had been so cruel to him and left the boys and I at Rathgar without a vehicle and without a way for me to take James to school. My own vehicle was in the shop. I decided to call my mother and moved in with my parents and our two boys (3) and 8 months old. While living there, Paul did not come visit us once. Christopher and I would sometimes see him at Rathgar when I would drop off James and put Christopher to bed for a nap. at school and then My parents paid for a therapist for me while I was there to help me move through the breakup. They wanted me to divorce and they were prepared to financially assist. They also paid for my initial lawyer.

Because we had been separated for 5 months, Paul seemed like he was “nice” again and that we could make this work. Of course I wanted my marriage to work. We have two sons. I thought I was staying with him for my boys.

Sept 27, 2018: CAS Intake Worker Jeremy Ng

- I put the boys to bed around 7:30pm. I went back downstairs to finish cleaning up after dinner. Paul was upset that I had not made him dinner because he did not like what I had made for the kids and I. I told him that he is an adult and can make his own food. He proceeded to berate me about that, then started to scream about how I let the children play in the house and I don't seem to have any respect for the house because there was a new scratch in the floor. We had previously discussed how we were going to purchase carpets to help mitigate the scratches. I had been to several stores and presented several options but he was not happy with what I had shown him. Also, he wanted me to purchase the carpets but I was not making an income. I am a stay at home mother. The fight escalated to the point where he used his size to back me up towards the end of the couch and then pushed me to fall on the couch. I was scared and called the police. I did not know how much angrier he was going to get. As soon as I called the police he went up to his room (it was actually supposed to be "our" room but I never slept there the entire time of owning the house. Instead, I slept in the guest bedroom or in our kids' rooms.) Christopher had woken up crying so I had gone to him to help put him back to sleep and comfort him. When the police arrived, he stayed hidden and told me that if I told the police what happened he would divorce me. At the time, I did not want a divorce. I asked him if he would seek anger management support and he said yes. So, when I opened the door, I told the police that nothing had happened.

Aug 2018: I took Christopher to his first speech therapy session with Cara Christmas. He had a speech delay.

Jan 2019: [residential address redacted] was bought for my sister and I. The boys and I spent a lot of time here. Notably March - May 2020 then again for long periods of time throughout July-Jan 2020/1. Paul always had an open invite to come up and see us. He never did. I would often ask him specifically to see our boys.

Mar 2019: I took Christopher to an occupational therapist…he was displaying very concerning behaviours such as shivering when an adult man, including his father, walked into the room. He hoarded toys or small objects inside his tent and then would hide inside the tent, under sofa cushions, and would scream throughout the night. He would be so scared to the point of dry heaving cries if I ever tried to leave him alone with a caregiver - I almost never did.

May 2019: I was asked to participate in a video for a lifetime achievement award put together by CreativeTO 2019 for my parents Julia and Robert Foster. I refused. I also refused to attend the event entirely.

June 2019: I called the cops because he threw something at me and towered over me and “psych” punched me - in front of our boys. He disappeared when the cops came. Again when they asked if I wanted to press charges I dismissed it and said everything was fine. Hopefully they would have a copy of this. CAS was called and then file was closed.

July 2019: Paul came to my parent’s cottage in Pointe au Baril for 2 days. Our sons wanted to go tubing. As I drove the boat, he berated. Our nephew Will Foster (13 at the time) was in the boat. He was very distraught by the experience and told his parents. My brother wanted Paul to apologize to Will for exposing him to that. Paul refused. He said he had nothing to apologize for and that Will was lying.

August 17, 2020: I was sitting at the dining table with both of my sons going over their homeschool work. I had previously made some muffins and the remaining muffins were in a black container. I can't entirely remember what started the argument, but ultimately Paul was upset with the muffins. I think he did not like them and ended up screaming at me while the boys sat there at the dining table. He proceeded to get angrier and threw the muffin and black container in our direction, aiming for me. I got up from the table to pick everything up, and return it to the kitchen. At this point Paul began to get even more angry. I spoke back to him and he proceeded to use his size and walked me backwards into the adjoining room where he had me cornered against the wall. He said "I am so angry at you I could kill you! You have no idea what I could do to you." Then he psych punched me while I coward. I had my phone on me and said "If you don't leave me alone I will call the police." That softened him a little but he still stood there. I pulled out my phone and proceeded to call 911. Paul then went to grab his things and leave the premises. He said if I told the police anything that it would be bad news for me later. When the police came, I retracted my statement. I had the children focus on the ducks we had in the backyard while speaking to the officer.

The officer was supposed to follow up with Paul. I do not know what transpired of the result of the follow up.

Again, when CAS followed up with me I did my best to help close out the report. I was scared about the consequences if I did not.

Oct 2020 to June 2021: I asked Paul to move out of the house. He said no.

Oct 24, 2020: I contacted Rosanna Breitman a mediator to inquire about handling our separation.

Oct 27, 2020: Paul contacted Rosanna Breitman to find out if he was ok to use her as our mediator for our separation.

Jan 2021: I asked Paul to move out of the house. He said no.

Jan 2021: I downloaded Liana Shanti’s Narcissism program.

February, 2021 Christopher and I were sitting on the floor in his room playing. It felt like out of nowhere Christopher proceeded to tell me "Papa hurt me." I asked him what do you mean Papa hurt you? He said that “Papa hurt my bum." I asked him how did Papa hurt your bum. He said "it felt like he cut a piece of my bum." I was even more alarmed. My son had a history of screaming around naps and bedtime, hiding in his tent and hoarding his toys inside his tent, being extremely scared around his grandfather, not ok with new environments, high anxiety and stress, and severe speech delay. As I know this is something that is rarely ever spoken about by any child, I immediately told his father and cut off any further contact with my parents.

February 2021: My sister Joanna Foster and I went to [residential address redacted] to remove our belongings. This included any photos of myself and my children, as well as my tapestry that I had purchased the year before for $70,000 CAD. I returned gifts I had been given in the form of jewelry.

Mar 2021: I asked Paul to move out of the house. He said no. I started to look for my own rental. It took me several months to find one because I was not employed and did not have employment history. There were also aggressive bidding wars in the rental market. Nov 4/5, 2021: I asked Paul if I could take the kids to Florida. We had been made aware that the Canadian government was about to mandate Covid vaccination to cross the border, and I was not vaccinated. We had been discussing our move to Florida since the beginning of our mediation process. I had first asked Paul to move to Hawaii, where my sister and her family were intending to go, but he said no. He agreed to Florida because his father and step mother have a house in Port Charlotte, FL, and our neighbours’ at the time have a condo in Estero, FL. Also, Paul had grown up going to Florida with his father and brother. While I had not been there more than a handful of times, most of them with Paul when we took cruises out of Miami, I was good with the choice to move there. It is sunny, I liked their politics, the US is an amazing place to bring up children, money goes much farther in terms of house buying power, and the sports generally speaking for young people is unparalleled. Academically, I felt that I could help my children manoeuvre well in that direction in the USA. In any event, Paul and I knew the mandate was coming. Our neighbour Libby Biason told me about a helicopter company that assisted people crossing the border with their vehicles. I called them and booked their only remaining slot that Friday Nov 6, just before the mandate would be set in place on Nov 8. I asked and then begged him to let the children and I go. He said no. We still did not have a separation agreement completed.

Nov 7, 2021: When Paul got the children for what was supposed to be only 4 days, he withheld them from me. This caused them extreme amounts of pain, especially for our youngest son Christopher. Christopher spent all of his time on the phone with me just crying and begging me to come get him. I did try and to do this. I was desperate to see them. I asked the police to escort me so that I could gather my things (there were a few items I had left/still needed to be picked up). I had hoped to see my boys. Paul hid them at our neighbours’ - Libby was not aware of what was going on - she was not there. Her kids were with their nanny. As I was leaving, I saw Paul and his cousin Chris Lorenz at our neighbours. I sent Libby (the wife) a message telling her I was going their house because obviously I knew my kids were there. Paul called the police back and they escorted me off their property. I was told I could not see my children unless a) Paul allowed it b) there was a court order.

It was almost a full month before I was able to reunite with my sons.

Nov 23rd, 2021, for some reason, Paul called me and told me he now consented to me leaving for Florida, with the children to come close behind me. The next day we finalized the separation agreement and I crossed the border. Three days later, Paul drove our boys to me in Buffalo and the boys and I flew to Fort Myers, FL. Paul joined us a few weeks later.

Jan 2022: I had my sisters children in my care for about 3 weeks. During this time, they were very scared of Paul. They would not get out of the car when Paul and I were exchanging our boys.

May 23, 2022: Paul picked up the boys for his 4 day parenting time (in Florida). He asked me nicely for his passport back because he said he would not be part of this round of application process. I re-iterated to him his choices saying he can just stay in the US for 90 days and apply then or once I get my US visa he can apply through the US Consulate in Toronto as a spouse. This was the reason we stayed married in the eyes of the government, so that this could be accomplished. He did not say anything negative about these options nor about withdrawing our children from the application process.

May 25, 2022: Paul called my immigration paralegal Nazanin Nodjoumi asking if the visa had yet been filed. She expressed to him it was happening that day. He immediately sent this email:

“Jess,

RE: Mediated Separation Agreement dated Nov 23, 2021, I am of the position that you have not followed this agreement. Please be advised that the Immigration Lawyer Nazanin Nodjoumi has been advised that I do not consent to our children being listed as applicants.

Any further correspondence is to be directed to my council by your Lawyer.

They may contact

Angela Marchese amarchese@blackburnlawyers.ca

10800 Yonge Street Richmond Hill Ontario L4C 3E4

905 884-9242”

He then blocked me on his phone and no longer permitted me to have any communication with our children from that moment on.

I was devastated. I drove the 1h45mins to where they were staying with their father in Port Charlotte, and begged Paul to tell me why he was doing this? What had happened? Why could we not have a conversation about this? Why there had been no warning. He simply repeated over and over, go back and look at the agreement. You must leave now. I am calling the police to have you removed from these premisses.

He did call the cops. I hugged my boys and left.

I called the cops. They said that because he was my children’s father and we were not divorced, they could not intervene without a court order.

I called our mediator (Rosanna Breitman) but she said this was a matter for the courts. I called the Parental Coordinator Israel Apter but he did not pick up. I called the previous lawyer I had used in Canada, Howard Nightingale, but he did not pick up. I started to research a lawyer in Florida but was unable to secure anyone for a few days. It was over the long weekend. I had my children’s passports and had never consented to him travelling across the border so I thought I was safe from him abducting our children. May 26, 2022: I requested to speak to my boys. No response.

May 27, 2022: I requested to speak to my boys. No response.

May 28, 2022: I requested to speak to my boys. No response. It was Christopher’s 5th birthday.

May 29, 2022: I requested to speak to my boys. No response.

May 30, 2022: I requested to speak to my boys. No response.

May 31st, 2022: Sold [residential address redacted]. I requested to speak to my boys. No response.

June 3rd, 2022: Tried to serve Paul divorce papers in Florida. That day was the day he took our boys back to Toronto.

June 2022: I issued the Hague Treaty. Paul moved our boys from house to house to house so that I could not locate them.

July 2022: The Hague ordered that Paul disclose their location and that I speak to our boys on a regular basis - for one hour at a time a few times a week.

July 2022: Paul took our boys to my parents cottage (without my knowing nor consent.) He was promptly asked to leave that same day because my brother and his family were there and Will was still upset about the events that had taken place in 2019. He also had said that that summer, Paul was so angry with Will that he had taken the jet ski, driven straight for Will in the small motor boat (stationed while he was fishing), and then wearing off to the side spraying him as a scare tactic. Paul left with our boys the next day.

Aug 3, 2022: I was granted the E2 visa.

Sept 2022. Canada was deemed our boys’ place of residence.

Oct 3rd, 2022: Since my return to Canada to be with our boys, I have been under parental supervision. Paul claims that I had been mind controlled by Liana Shanti. Before Liana, it was my sister Joanna Foster. Even though I was never an active member in Liana’s community, I did purchase her programs and found them extremely helpful. I did not want to write this letter because Paul will withhold our children from me in response. However, on Apr 22, 2023 he told me that he had written an affidavit in this case and that he had retracted my name, as well as not used our younger son’s name. I don’t see how this is actually possible as I am still considered his wife and we only have two sons.

Dec 2022: I cancelled my divorce to Paul as per his request so that we could take Christopher to see Dr Masse to complete his dental work. Jan/Feb 2023: While in Florida for Christopher’s dental work, Paul looked extensively for a house to buy.

March 10, 2023 10:20-12pm: Came to the house at 10:30am. The plan was to ski. Paul initially told me to leave because Lisa Fiorvante (a student of Liana Shanti’s) had posted on Instagram. She specifically mentioned that her ex husband had written two affidavits for people they did not know. One of those affidavits was for Paul. Paul had reached out to Joe S. (Someone I did not know but who had been a student of Liana’s). I actually had never spoken to Joe nor Lisa before this event. A few months after the affidavit had been written I realized who Joe was, and reached out to Lisa to confirm it was her ex. After this interaction, I never had another one. However, the fact that Lisa mentioned that her ex had written two affidavits for men he did not know infuriated Paul. Ultimately, this meant Paul screamed at me in front of our children about my past affiliations with Liana Shanti. Because I had already purchased the ski tickets, he ultimately allowed the boys and I to go skiing. I was able to change our ticket start time from 10:45am to 12:45pm. Paul stayed in the lodge or the car with the boys’ and my dog Bella.

Before we left, there was a group of boys that were vaping. Paul asked them to stop. One of the boys refused. Paul quickly became irate, stood up and psych punched him and was aggressive with the other kids. The boys caught this on video. Paul also videoed the incident (which is what prompted the other boys to record). Paul then went to alert Parks and Recs. Someone came in the interim and saw the videos the boys had taken of Paul. They informed him that he had been aggressive towards the boys. My boys were scared during this interaction. As it was happening I was packing up our stuff to get James and Christopher out of the room. Christopher was especially upset, and also did not like that his father was videotaping the other kids as Paul has videotaped Christopher before when he is upset. Usually it is after Paul has pinned his arms making Christopher even more upset but then makes it seem as though Christopher is unconsolable without reason.

My Note to You Dear Honorable Judge Susan Oki Mollway

While I do not know what Paul has written in his affidavit, I believe it is his intention to use this in our own ongoing custody case. I am and have always been a devoted mother to our boys. When he decided to take them away from me on May 23, 2022, that was the day he caused the most amount of harm a father could possibly cause to his children. Since then, it has been his intention to keep me from our children. They did extremely poorly over the summer. Christopher was often crying to me, asking me desperately to come and get him. I did not know where they were located. Paul bounced them from location to location so that I would not know where they were. I have attached the PI report that was written during that time.

Our boys love me deeply. Miss me. Always want to see more of me. As I them. We have always had a beautiful bond. Just recently, during my last supervised visit with my sons, on April 28, 2023 our 5 year old son said “Mom, when is everything going to return back to normal? He doesn’t let me see you. When is Dad going to let me be with you again. He puts me in my room and hurts me. I want to live with you forever. I never want to see him again.” He has been campaigning that he is keeping them away from me “for their safety.” However, he has never said from what. He has made sweeping generalizations stating that I am a Liana Shanti follower…but…what exactly does that mean in terms of the safety of our sons? We had a separation agreement in place prior to moving to the US. He always saw his sons when it was his allowed time except for two exceptions when Christopher cried begging me and his Dad if he could stay with me. His father allowed it.

I have complied with Paul’s demands because when I don’t, he punishes our children and withholds them from me. It has gotten so extensive to the point that if someone, even if I do not know them, posts something on Instagram and it angers him, he punishes our children and withholds them from me.

I believed I was complying so that I would have joint physical custody again. However, I no longer believe this is his intention. I believe it is his intention to permanently cut me out of their lives, even if it destroys them. I do not drink, smoke, stay out late, have any convictions, do “bad” things. I am, however, a loving mother. It has been my greatest joy in life. I never hired nannies, babysitters, because I never wanted to. I enjoyed their company entirely, seeing them succeed in life.

He had zero interest in our boys. I constantly tried to invite him to be part of their milestones, vacation times, weekends, extra curricular activities…anything. But he would often say he hated me so much that he couldn’t be around us. My faults were not using the right size pot when cooking, not cracking an egg the “right way,” , or not liking the same song he did.

He hated me. I mean, he said it, but I didn’t believe him. That was my grave mistake. And I take full accountability for that, for continuing on in our marriage.

For months Paul has forbidden me to have any contact with Liana or anyone associated with her either directly or indirectly. He even outlined this in the minutes he sent me in April, 2023. Meaning, even if someone else says or posts something about me in relation to Liana or any of her affiliates, he would be able to withhold our children from me once again until he deems I am fit to parent and I have seen a psychiatrist for an indefinite amount of time. Case in point, when Lisa Fiorvante posted something on her own IG account about her ex, Paul was livid and refused to let me see our children that day. When my sister Joanna Foster posted something about her experience with our parents Paul was livid and went back to the strict Tues/Thur/Sat supervised schedule that he has forced me to pay for completely. I have attached these minutes so that you may see. I am scared to send you this letter because I know the repercussions. But it seems, if I don’t send this to you, he will use this material as though it is true. Again, he has written an affidavit were he implicates me but I am not allowed to respond? Not because I have been a bad mother. Simply because he does not agree that I have listened to Liana Shanti’s programs.

He has also stated in this document that he would like me to see a psychiatrist for a year due to my “affiliations” with Liana’s programs. He has zero clue what is in these programs, as he has never listened to them beyond a few minutes of the narcissistic program. Furthermore, while he is part of this group of people in this class action lawsuit, where he has implicated our family and my sister, he has forbid me (as written in these minutes) to have any contact with anyone affiliated with Liana and my sister. If I do, I am at risk, again, of losing our children. I hope that you can see from this letter that I am trying to be as objective and factual as possible.

I sincerely hope, as well, that you see that Liana Shanti had absolutely nothing to do with my challenges with my husband and as a result not being with my boys, other than Paul stating that she did. The only thing her programs did was make me think I am a worthy individual of love and support, and I am happy to report that I have gone back to plant based eating and I no longer get sick. Our boys and I were doing so well when were in Florida. Christopher’s speech finally started to clear - he went from saying only a few words to speaking in paragraphs. I had no idea he “knew” all those words. He made his first friend and was loving his time at the beach. James had discovered parkour, and had joined The Jungle Gym - a place that trains its young athletes for Ninja Warriors USA - something that is televised and nationally watched. I was homeschooling them and they were both thriving academically. James was way ahead by about two grades and Christopher was coming out of his shell. I was financially independent, starting a new business, and getting our E2 visa for the family. It was absolutely devastating the day Paul decided he would rip them from the life we were creating for them.