The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Massachusetts)
Friday, June 19, 1998

Group protests harsh treatment of alleged batterers By Dennis Tatz

QUINCY - A group objecting to the harsh treatment given to alleged
batterers and restraining order violations at Quincy District Court
protested outside the courthouse for about three hours yesterday.

Members of the Fatherhood Coalition, a Boston-based organization, carried
signs such as "Fatherhood Bashing is a Hate Crime," "QDC: Model for
Domestic Violence or Witch Hunt," and "Kids Need Dads," to show their
displeasure about judges and prosecutors.

"The Quincy court's domestic violence program has been used as a model,"
said Fatherhood spokesman Mark Charalambous of Leominster. "We
believe this court is the belly of the beast. They pride themselves on
prosecuting and putting men in jail. They don't care about the
consequences."

The dozen protesters were also on hand yesterday to support one of their
own, Harry Stewart, 43, of Quincy, who was in court for three alleged
restraining order violations.

Stewart, a licensed minister affiliated with the Full Gospel of Minister
and Churches International, said the charges against him are frivolous and are
an example of an overzealous court system.

He said they all stemmed from his wife's attempt to make it difficult for
him to spend time with his two sons. He said he has never been accused of
being a batterer, but that it was his wife who had verbally and physically
assaulted him.

"The court is not looking at a case individually," said Stewart, who
participated in a youth ministry in Weymouth for 16 years. "The court is
biased. Basically, the man is the bad guy and the woman is poor and
helpless. I understand the courts are trying to do good, but they treat you
as if you are guilty. Children need both a father and mother in their lives."

Charalambous said advocates for battered women are misguided.

"They believe that if there is abuse, eventually the man will kill that woman,"
said Charalambous. "It's cut and dry. It's their whole philosophy and the
courts have acted on it. Due process be damned. If a woman wants a
protection order, she gets it. They treat a phone call as a physical
assault. I don't think trying to contact your child should be criminalized."

Judge Charles Black, the court's presiding justice, was on vacation
yesterday and could not be reached for comment.

Nancy Scannell, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Coalition for
Battered Women Services Group, said the Fatherhood Coalition is fighting
the wrong battle.

"In general, they opposes any measure that protects battered women," said
Scannell. "They do not support legislation that would protect children
above the rights of parents. The things they support and don't support tend to
weaken provisions for battered women and children. They put out a lot of
misinformation."

Scannell said the Fatherhood Coalition picketed outside Fall River District
Court a few months of ago to show support for a Fall River man accused of
raping his children and violating a restraining order.