Dear Judge ______,
Greetings and may this letter find you in good health. I’ve spent a lot of time at home due to the Covid19 pandemic thinking about this trial with my soon to be ex-husband. I contemplate what the outcome of this sentencing phase will mean to me and my four children.
As a single mother of four children, and no other adult in the home to help me, I need their father to oblige in his parental duties for the benefit of our children and their future. I no longer have parents who’re able to help me with babysitting. My brothers are too busy with their own lives to help us.
I’m not able to afford childcare since resigning from my job of 15 years on August 28th, 2020 due to Covid19. I need to be home with my children and care for them so they're not neglected. I feel overworked and exhausted being the only adult in the household doing all the domestic work like laundry, cleaning, food shopping, meal prep, driving, scheduling and administration of their medical needs, and the list goes on.
Their father should take part in the effort of raising our two biological children (my older two were from a prior relationship). They loved their dad and need his love in return to thrive in their own lives.
I believe any kind of jail time for him will make this entire situation worse. He needs to participate in various support programs such as: probation, drug and alcohol treatment, anger management, and mental health evaluations through the VA (The Department of Veterans Affairs). Hopefully the criminal justice system will help him rejoin society as a responsible law-abiding citizen but I'm doubtful.
Not seeing his children or I for almost two years and the eviction from our home is hard punishment in itself (not to mention the anticipation of the outcome of this two year trial). Please take that into consideration when determining his sentence. Yes, he still needs to be held accountable for his actions but imprisonment will only further damage his mental well being which affects my children and I since we are his immediate family.
One more point to highlight: I am not looking to reconcile the marriage. I’m too damaged and jaded for that now. I am looking for a partner to coparent with me to raise these four children into happy, kind, loving, and successful adults. I pray for the return of solace and integrity to my family, to our community, to our beautiful country, and to the entire planet on which we spend such a short amount of time on.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter. I trust you will choose the most appropriate course of action.
Very truly yours,
Alexandra O’Hara