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Mission Viejo doctor wins visitation with kids amid poison allegations
Orange County Sep 16, 2022
Courtesy of Ekaterina Bolovtsova
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A Mission Viejo dermatologist accused by her estranged husband of attempting to poison him with Drano was granted once-a-week supervised visits with their children Friday.
Attorneys for Drs. Jack Chen and Yue “Emily” Yu worked out an agreement that was approved by Superior Court Judge Thomas in the family law court in Orange. Under the agreement, Yu can visit with her children with a monitor for three hours once a week, and if the visits go well, both sides aim to increase the meetings to twice a week. A hearing was set for Oct. 17, when a move to increase the visits to twice a week will be considered.
Both sides put off a hearing on a permanent restraining order for the time being.
“While we would object (to any visitation), we would like some sort of control over the process,” attorney Steven Hittelman told Lo.
The agreement mandates only English is spoken during the visits and that there will be no discussion of the divorce or custody case.
Yu’s attorney, David Dworakowski, said he is hoping to set up the first visit this weekend if the paperwork can be processed in time and a monitor is available.
No decision on criminal charges has been made so far, said Yu’s defense attorney, Scott Simmons.
Chen, a 53-year-old radiologist, filed a restraining order against his 45-year-old wife, Yu, in August.
Yu, who was arrested by Irvine police on suspicion of attempting to poison her husband, was released from jail after posting $30,000 bail last month. Chen said she called him to post bail but he refused, according to the restraining order.
“It’s on video and it’s very clear,” Hittelman said after a hearing in the restraining order last month of the alleged dosing of the clog-cleaner in Chen’s drinks.
Chen recorded three videos amounting to a total of 90 minutes, Hittelman said.
Yu’s previous defense attorney David Wohl said she was pouring the clog cleaner in a small cup to clear out the pipes like anyone else would. He denied that she did anything wrong.
In the restraining order applications, Chen said he is “fearful” of living in the same Irvine home with Yu “due to (Yu’s) attempts to poison me with Drano.”
Chen also alleged that “both children have suffered physical, verbal and emotional abuse by their mother … and their maternal grandmother.”
Chen said that in March and April he “started noticing a chemical taste in my lemonade” and that soon after that he “developed symptoms that had me see the doctor, who performed an examination and diagnosed me with two stomach ulcers, gastritis and esophagitis.”
That prompted Chen to set up surveillance video in the kitchen, and he attached videos and photos that he alleged show his wife pouring Drano into his drinks.
He said the two began dating in 2011 and married July 4, 2012.
He detailed multiple instances of alleged child abuse inflicted on their children
“After the children were born, I became concerned about Emily’s behavior,” Chen said. “Not only was she very demanding of me that I give her massages — one time when I could not because I was sick she stepped on my head until I did — she also began hiding money from me.”
He said his wife’s “parenting — if you could call it that — revolves around yelling, insulting, verbally abusing, hitting, pushing, pulling and being emotionally abusive.”
He said if the two children said they enjoyed spending time with him, she would “`put them in their room and yell at them until they assured her they would not show affection toward me.”
He also accused her of “sleep deprivation” punishment at times.
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