In re Marriage of Andrea T.

2025 IL App (3d) 250102-U
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided July 25, 2025·No. 3-25-0102·Unpublished

Opinion

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

2025 IL App (3d) 250102-U

Order filed July 25, 2025

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS THIRD DISTRICT

2025

In re MARRIAGE OF ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of the 18th Judicial Circuit, ANDREA T., ) Du Page County, Illinois, )

Petitioner-Appellee, ) Appeal No. 3-25-0102 ) Circuit Nos. 15-D-1008 and ) 17-OP-93 )

JON T., ) Honorable ) Maureen R. Riordan, Respondent-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.

JUSTICE PETERSON delivered the judgment of the court.

Justices Hettel and Anderson concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The court did not abuse its discretion in restricting father’s parenting time. The court’s order allocating sole decision-making authority to mother regarding the children’s religious instruction was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

The court did not abuse its discretion in allocating the guardian ad litem and custodial evaluation fees.

¶2 Respondent, Jon T., appeals the Du Page County circuit court’s order (1) restricting his parenting time, (2) allocating sole decision-making authority regarding the children’s religious instruction to petitioner, Andrea T., (3) granting Andrea’s motion for reallocation of guardian ad

litem fees, and (4) denying his motion for reallocation of custody evaluator fees. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 Jon and Andrea were married in 2011. They had two children together, V.T., born in 2012 and G.T., born in 2014. Andrea filed for dissolution in 2015. In September 2016 the parties entered a parenting agreement and allocation judgment prepared by the guardian ad litem (GAL), Lynn Mirabella, which was later incorporated into the marital settlement agreement and incorporated into the judgment of dissolution entered in November 2016. The agreement provided that the parties would be required to consult and discuss significant issues regarding education, health, religion, and extracurricular activities prior to decisions being made. Additionally, the agreement provided that “the children shall be raised and reared in the Catholic faith and attend religious education and timely obtain sacraments in that faith.” In the event the parties disagreed on an issue, the agreement provided that “ANDREA shall have the authority to make a final decision.”

¶5 Following entry of the dissolution, there was a myriad of filings by the parties. In March 2020 a GAL was again appointed, and ultimately Lynn Mirabella served as the GAL. On November 16, 2021, Andrea filed a petition to modify the allocation judgment and restrict Jon’s parenting time. The petition alleged that Jon acted in a manner that seriously endangered the children’s mental, moral, and/or physical health, or significantly impaired their emotional development. It also alleged a substantial change in circumstances had occurred. Andrea alleged that V.T. had been diagnosed with learning and behavioral disorders and had been prescribed medication to help with those issues. She further alleged that although she administered the prescribed medicine during her parenting time, Jon refused to do so during his parenting time.

Without the medication, V.T. suffers physical, mental and emotional pain. Andrea also alleged that Jon refused to comply with V.T.’s therapeutic treatments or cooperate with his therapist and doctors. She further alleged that Jon demeans and disparages her to the children. The petition requested that Jon’s parenting time be modified and restricted consistent with the children’s best interests, that his time be limited to daytime hours, that he be ordered to participate in counseling to address treatment of the children and for other relief. Jon filed an emergency petition to modify and supervise and restrict Andrea’s parenting time on November 22, 2021. Following the filing of these petitions, the court appointed Dr. Robert Shapiro to conduct an evaluation pursuant to section 604.10(b) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Act) (750 ILCS 5/604.10(b) (West 2022)).

¶6 The petitions proceeded to trial on October 23, 2024, and continued for several days over the course of several months. The GAL testified as to her recommendations and the bases therefore. Her report, which included her recommendations, was admitted into evidence. The GAL recommended, among other things, that (1) Andrea be given sole decision-making responsibility for the children, including for religious instruction; (2) Jon’s parenting time be suspended for at least 90 days, during which time Jon would receive counseling twice per week; and (3) the children have no access to guns or hunting and neither parent should take the children to a place where guns are fired or allow another family member to utilize a gun in the presence of the children.

¶7 The GAL provided lengthy testimony regarding her investigation, including the information she learned from interviews with the children’s therapists, treatment providers, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the children, Jon, and Andrea. Her testimony revealed that numerous DCFS complaints had been made against Andrea, all of which

were unfounded. Jon called the police multiple times to make complaints of parental interference when Andrea was late, even mere minutes late, when exchanging the children. Several individuals concluded that the children had been coached by Jon to make certain statements. For example, V.T. reported being beaten black and blue by Andrea. When asked how he knew that, he stated that Jon told him and showed him pictures. Jon was not cooperative in administering V.T.’s medication or in obtaining that medication from Andrea. Jon was not supportive of the children’s therapy and had been banned from at least one provider’s office. V.T. told one provider that Jon obtained a Carolina Reaper pepper and gave it to V.T. to put in Andrea’s underwear. G.T. told a provider that Jon gave him an exploding cigarette for G.T. to give to Andrea.

¶8 As to the recommendation regarding guns, the GAL testified that V.T. was very immature and had major impulsivity issues. She further testified that V.T. was physically aggressive towards other children and had stabbed a teacher in the arm with a pencil. V.T. was defiant, disrespectful of authority, aggressive and lacked empathy. The GAL believed that given V.T.’s emotional and mental challenges, especially the impulsivity issues, it was dangerous for V.T. to be around guns. She also noted that V.T. had self-loathing issues, where he stated that he should die and should kill himself. V.T. thought about ways to kill himself. The GAL believed these statements and thoughts provided additional reasons why V.T. should not be allowed access to guns for his own safety. There was also an incident where V.T. reported to his therapist that Jon had lost a shotgun in his house and V.T. helped look for it. Specifically, the GAL testified that she had a conference with Maggie Perron on August 21, 2024. During that conference, the GAL learned that V.T. had reported to Maggie that Jon told V.T. that he lost a shotgun in the house, V.T. helped Jon look for it, and that they could not find it. V.T. knew Jon

could get in trouble if Jon had the gun and that is why they were looking for it. Regarding G.T., she testified that he did not like guns.

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