The Restraining Order

A summary of the restraining order filed against Tara Walsh by Stephen Russell. It can be read in full, below the summation. The highlights of this order show a view of the tumultuous and abusive behaviors he endured.

by Journalist #3

On July 9, 2018, Stephen Russell submitted a declaration to the San Francisco Family Court requesting a restraining order against Tara Walsh as part of their child custody case. Mr. Russell outlined his relationship with Ms. Walsh, her erratic behaviors and diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, and the dangers she’d posed to him and their daughter, Evie. He requested that Evie be returned to him in San Francisco and that the court grant him temporary physical custody with supervised visits by Ms. Walsh until permanent custody was decided. He also asked the court to expedite determining who has jurisdiction, New York or California, and ordering a mediation between him and Ms. Walsh to decide permanent custody.

The text of the full declaration can be found here.

Mr. Russell’s declaration begins with his relationship with Ms. Walsh in the lead up to Evie’s birth. They had been living together in San Francisco when Mr. Russell describes Ms. Walsh throwing a full bottle of wine at his head in an attempt to harm him physically. This was one in many instances that he found she acted dangerously and erratically. They separated and Ms. Walsh moved back to New York to live in Brooklyn. It was after her move that Ms. Walsh announced she was pregnant. Mr. Russell temporarily moved to Brooklyn.

Mr. Russell stayed in Brooklyn until Ms. Walsh gave birth to their daughter, Evie, on January 27, 2018. He then returned to San Francisco for work. He requested to Ms. Walsh that she and Evie move back with him. He wanted to give their relationship another try but felt they needed distance from Ms. Walsh’s family to be able to do so. If their relationship did not work out, at least he would be able to better support her and Evie if they all lived in San Francisco together.

Ms. Walsh had two conditions for the move: she would live with Mr. Russell for at least six months and she wouldn’t have to work. They agreed and less than two months after Evie’s birth, they were all back in San Francisco.

Ms. Walsh moved with Evie and the majority of her belongings back across the country where Mr. Russell set her up with everything she needed. He paid for a concierge doctor, hired a nanny, found them a penthouse apartment to live in together and more.

However, soon after their arrival, Ms. Walsh began acting erratically and dangerously. It reminded Mr. Russell of the period that led to their separation before her pregnancy but this time it was worse and he was worried about Evie’s safety as well.

Ms. Walsh was verbally abusive and admitted to drugging Mr. Russell’s drinks, an act witnessed by their nanny and documented in San Francisco courts:

She threatened suicide multiple times, and had delusional episodes. During one of those delusional episodes, Evie was injured while under the care of Ms. Walsh. Evie fell to the ground from three feet off the floor, hit her head and needed to go to the hospital for medical attention.

Note: This was not the first time a child had to be taken to the hospital while under Ms. Walsh’s care. A blog post from Ms. Walsh’s sister Brie detailed a time when Brie’s daughter had to be rushed to the hospital after Ms. Walsh’s prescription pills’ blue residue was found on the child’s mouth.

At the advice of the concierge doctor and Ms. Walsh’s mother, Mr. Russell arranged an emergency intervention for Ms. Walsh with a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist diagnosed her with Borderline Personality Disorder with sociopathic traits – a diagnosis that Mr. Russell found out later Ms. Walsh had known for years – and recommended she enter a residential care program or something similar.

When Mr. Russell told Ms. Walsh that she should enter a residential care program, she fired the psychiatrist. She then tried to run away with Evie back to New York. Mr. Russell called her parents for help and they convinced her to return home.

In response to Ms. Walsh’s attempt to leave with his daughter, Mr. Russell filed a parentage petition in San Francisco. Ms. Walsh was served with the petition on June 5, 2018.

Under the petition, if either Ms. Walsh or Mr. Russell wanted to take Evie out of California, they had to get written permission from the other parent or get a court order. After speaking with Ms. Walsh and her dad, he gave her permission to make a short visit to New York with Evie. They agreed she would stay with her parents and work with her former therapist in New York on her diagnosis. The trip would last no longer than three weeks.

However, after Ms. Walsh and Evie left for New York, it quickly became clear to Mr. Russell that she had no intentions of returning. In late June, Ms. Walsh’s dad confirmed his suspicions. Ms. Walsh would not be returning to San Francisco and had filed a restraining order against him in Westchester County.

Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Ms. Walsh for the kidnapping of their daughter Evie.

Ms. Walsh called and texted Mr. Russell with conflicting messages during this time. She told him she loved him and was sorry but then said she’d called hotlines to plant false evidence of domestic abuse against him to make things “very messy” for him. She complained about living with her parents and said she wanted to return to him but then filed a request with the San Francisco courts that New York be given jurisdiction over the case because she claims she had  only been visiting San Francisco and not living there, despite doing a change of address and moving her belongings to San Francisco. Finally, Ms. Walsh asked him to come visit. When he agreed to and reached out to her father about it, both Ms. Walsh and her father went silent.

In his declaration, Mr. Russell makes his case that he should have custody of Evie and that the jurisdiction should remain in San Francisco. Mr. Russell disputed Ms. Walsh’s claims that he’d manipulated her into going to San Francisco, pointed out inconsistencies in her narrative about where she resides, and provided evidence that she’d set up residency in California. He described multiple instances of dangerous erratic behavior with documented evidence to corroborate and refuted her claims that he did things such as hire private security to spy on her. He also denied her claims of domestic violence saying that she was the one who was a danger to their daughter and that even her parents won’t let her live outside of their house because they fear for Evie’s safety.

Note: A battery case was brought against Tara Walsh in a San Francisco civil court by Stephen Russell. Earlier this month, a guilty verdict was handed down by a jury. Mr. Russell won his case and was awarded nearly $400,000 in damages due to the extraordinarily heinous nature and premeditation of the abuse perpetrated against him.