Dad jailed in Japan for trying to reclaim his kids

Christopher Savoie, a businessman from the Nashville area, is sitting in a Japanese jail cell after he reportedly tried to grab his kids back from his ex-wife. Of course, the ex is wanted in America -- she'd gotten court permission to take the kids to her native Japan for a vacation, but then apparently moved there permanently. She's afraid of the kids losing their Japanese identity. (Japan is NOT party to an international agreement on parental abductions.)

The really galling thing? Dad knew that Mom wanted to take the kids and run, and he repeatedly tried to warn the court back in the U.S. Instead, the court let Mom have access to the kids' passports. After all, the court said, Mom PROMISED that she was going to stay in America.

Comments

[D-man]

extradite mom and send the kids back.
I'm going to show my support for this guy by boycotting Japanese porn.

[Cleophus Lovejoy]

Sempi

[AJ]

Yet another article exposing the lack of a "judicial" system in America...fan-f'n-tastic!!

[amsdadtodd]

Regarding the horrific story about an American father in a Japanese jail, my first thoughts are, where are our Chief Executive and Secretary of State on this one?

Our Chief Executive, Barrack Obama, has spoken out in favor of involved fathers on several occasions, cited his own childhood which lacked a meaningful relationship with his own father, and has announced an intention to instill a sense of responsibility into fathers. Yet, when we hear of situations like this, where a father has to take unusual steps to try to keep his relationship with his children intact, he's got nothing to say. Could it be that in his mind, men are bad parents, and only worthy of attention to highlight voluntary absence from their children s’ lives? Some may argue that it's not his place to intercede, or comment. Was it also not his place to intercede or comment when a police officer observed suspicious activity when reporting to a scene where that activity had already been reported by a neighbor? I certainly think that the "gender divide" which our own government has been propagating in family courts is more worthy of our Presidents attention than a cop responding to a report of suspicious activity only to have it blown out of proportion and turned into a "racial incident".

Then, we turn to Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, whose job it really is to involve the department we've entrusted her to run in such international challenges. Her oft-quoted statement "it takes a village to raise a child" begs the question now, "whose village do you want to raise this mans children?" Enough platitudes about how complicated this matter is, the plain and simple fact is that it's not. The man is the father of these children, they were raised in the US by both parents, and when the courts were called on to rule in the best interests of these children, they decided they were to continue to grow up in the US. The mother kidnapped the children, became an international fugitive, and now as a result of her selfish and vindictive actions the father languishes in a jail for loving his children enough to try to get them back.

When Elian Gonzalez' mother kidnapped him away from his homeland and his father to escape to the United States, the state department had no compunctions about involving itself then, and despite their protracted efforts to keep the boy here, in the end decided that the child belonged with his father. Where is that recognition of basic human rights and compassion now? We have an American man in a Japanese jail, another American father fighting to regain his child Brazil, and countless fathers on American soil fighting daily against courts and their children s’ mothers to spend meaningful time with their own children. I guess our own government is only concerned about the parental rights of non-American fathers, or the responsibilities of non-involved American fathers, because they certainly don't do anything to protect the rights of loving, involved American men to raise their children.

[Sasquach]

I at least have to agree a little bit with amsdadtodd on one issue. Why isn't the state dept. busting @$$ to get a father with a legitimate claim to his children who tried to recover them from his criminal wife out of jail when the state dept. just got done with a big song and dance about their ability to get 2 reporters who illegaly entered N. Korea released?

[Jellybean]

We need a swap-meet. I'll trade my Can't-be-bothered-to-even-call-them ex for somebody elses I'd-Do-Anything-Just-to-See-Them ex.
These involved dad's who are getting screwed over by the courts could take out their frustrations by beating the bejesus out of the worthless absentee dads. I'd pay to see that.

[sly]

I'd hate to agree with amsdadtodd, so I won't. That's just a twisted diatribe.

These kind of stories break your heart. Its just outrageous. I hope Hillary can exercise a little backdoor diplomacy--twist some arms--to get the guy, and his kids, back on American soil.

The problem of course is that you can't hold up all of diplomatic relations with Japan over a single American family. Even as important & heartwrenching the issue is.

[Mayfair]

I read more background info on another site and the kids have spent most of their lives (up until June 2008) in Japan.
He moved back to the USA in Jan. 2008 and in June 2008 wife and kids followed to find that he wants to divorce and marry someone else immediately -someone he had hooked up with while the mom and kids were arranging the move to the USA. The new wife and the kids father married as soon as the divorce was finalized.
Court orders left her "alone" in a foreign country, sharing custody of the kids and her husband of 14 years living with a new wife, court drama after court drama.
I don't approve, but understand her actions.

[KI]

Christopher Savoie is a Rhode Island Native
CS and his current wife Amy met when they were in college in RI
Amy married and moved to Tennessee with her ex-husband
199? CS moved to Japan and married to Noriko
2001-2008 CS established a business in Tokyo
2005?, CS got Japanese citizenship (he is a Japanese citizen)
Jan 2008, CS and his business suddenly moved to Tennessee and started living with Amy
CS told Noriko that he want to start over their marriage and asked her to come to the US
Jun 15th 2008, Noriko and Children moved to the US
Jun 16th 2008, CS filed a divorce, Amy filed divorce almost the same time
Jan 2009, CS and Noriko's divorce was finalized
Feb 2009, CS and Amy married
---- All Planned ----

[146]

We got better investigative reporters right here in the CSKC!!!

[nah]

yeah, first time, i felt bad for the father. But i don't anymore. i understand that she also had to do the only choice that she had just like savoie said that he had to do the only choice he had. think about it, how devastated she must have been when she found out that her husband was cheating on her with someone else the whole time when she thought that she was moving to the US to make their marriage work out!!

[Drasil]

He sounds like a douche. But, regardless of how he treated her, that has nothing to do with his COURT ordered parental rights.

[Kent]

Did the CNN reporter really talk with somebody who knew their history except the father?

[Tom K]

What did the judge think she needed the passports for if she didn't intend to leave the country?

[whatever]

drasil, the only problem with your theory is that the "court ordered parental rights" in the us, have no say in what goes on in japan.

[Ken M]

This story is such a joke!

Every article Ive read says that the guy is an "American Dad". The guy took Japanese citizenship, which requres BY LAW that the person renounce any other citizenship, so by the very act of claiming to be an American, that means that he has broken the law.

The mother may be just as bad as the dad, and arguing that point is something else indeed. But it isnt an issue for Americans or American newspapers to be getting involved in. The basic facts of this case wont go away, no matter how many US newspapers write articles that try to avoid the basic underlying issue.

This guy is a JAPANESE citizen who broke Japanese law by trying to kidnap his JAPANESE kids IN JAPAN from his Japanese wife.

The US has no jurisdiction in this case whatsoever, and nothing will change that. If the guy started out by learning the laws in these matters BEFORE HE VOLUNTARILY RENOUNCED HIS US CITIZENSHIP, then none of this would even be an issue.

[Tiffany H.]

Ken M. I don't think that's correct. According to the Japanese they are still married. And if so why does a Japanese citizen need permission from his Japanese wife to take his kids anywhere?

[Tx]

If the kids resisted Dad and screamed and made a scene, I believe the police could arrest him, but he might not get charged for that.

[Mayfair]

No, he is not really a Japanese citizen, as you can not become a Japanese citizen as such, only something comparable to a permanent resident. That is why he is still American.

[kc_in_MN]

At first I also felt bad for Chris Savoie. After reading more about this case, I realized he is one scheming asshole. He basically tricked his ex-wife into moving to Tennessee with the kids, serving her with divorce papers the day after she arrived. She was absolutely trapped - didn't know anyone in a place that is hardly cosmopolitan.

She probably had a temporary visa/ provisional green card on the basis of being his wife. She might be deported in 2 years as they are divorced, then be forced to leave the country and her children. I completely understand why she did what she did. He deserves it after he tricked her into moving to the US and set her up to lose the kids forever in 2 years when she is deported. He bailed on their marriage, cheating with his college sweetheart, and wanted the convenience of his children in Tennessee minus his ex-wife. He's getting his just desserts.

[Chetta Patti]

Two questions to those who are defending this guy:
(1) Why was this guy having an affair with another woman (to whom he is now currently married) if he really did love his kids?
(2) To trick the Japanese woman into moving to the US, only to serve her with divorce papers when she gets here shows that his ethical standards are pretty poor.

Both of these points indicate that in this particular case we must not carried away by our instinctive sympathy for a fellow American. In this case, it seems as if this man is generally engaged in a selfish pursuit and must deal with the consequences of his actions.