This is the official timeline of events in my battle to rescue my children.

False Allegations of Abuse by Jess Anderson

December 28, 2016 — Shortly before filing for divorce, my daughters’ mother, Jessica Cross, now Jess Anderson, reported allegations of abuse through a therapist. Child Protective Services investigated and concluded: “We did not find abuse or neglect happened.”

January 25, 2017 — Jessica filed for dissolution of our marriage. During the divorce proceedings, Jess Anderson became pregnant by Graydon Anderson (aka Gray Anderson), who soon afterward filed for divorce from his wife.

April 9, 2019 — Our divorce was finalized. We retained joint legal and physical custody, but I was not awarded equal parenting time. The decree allowed me to ask a parenting consultant to review the parenting-time schedule.

January 31, 2020 — Jess Anderson again alleged abuse through a therapist as I pursued equal parenting time. CPS again investigated and found no evidence of abuse.

June 25, 2020 — A child consultant recommended that the children spend more time with me. The parenting consultant subsequently ordered equal parenting time beginning June 1, 2021.

June 1, 2021 — Equal parenting time began.

Jess Anderson Files Order for Protection

October 18, 2021 — Jess Anderson hired Mishawn Gudipati (aka Misha Gudipati), who was not yet licensed as a marriage and family therapist, to counsel my oldest daughter. Less than one month later, Misha Gudipati filed a report with CPS claiming that I had caused a bruise on my daughter.

October 26, 2021 — CPS investigator Hirat Muse interviewed me concerning an allegation that I had caused a bruise on my oldest daughter. I denied causing any injury.

October 29, 2021 — The children’s mother took my middle daughter to an emergency room because of a bruise on her upper thigh and alleged that I had struck her. My daughter had previously told me that she injured herself falling on the school bus. CPS opened another investigation.

November 2, 2021 — Hirat Muse interviewed the children at school concerning the bruise.

November 11–12, 2021 — The children’s mother sought an ex parte Order for Protection based on the physical-abuse allegations. The temporary order was granted, giving her temporary custody and preventing my contact with the children.

December 2–3, 2021 — The children attended a pediatric appointment. The following day, Jess Anderson contacted the pediatrician’s office with concerns that their discomfort around an unfamiliar male doctor might indicate sexual abuse. A mandated report was made to CPS.

December 4, 2021 — CPS investigator Cori Hewett established a voluntary safety plan under which the children’s mother agreed to prevent contact between the children and me.

December 6, 2021 — Muse interviewed all three children at school. During questioning, my youngest initially denied three times that anyone had touched her inappropriately. She later described an occasion when I applied ointment to a painful rash. CPS investigator Hirat Muse treated her description as a possible disclosure of sexual abuse and scheduled all three children for forensic interviews the next day.

December 7, 2021 — All three children underwent forensic interviews. By that time, the allegation had developed into a false and devastating claim that I had penetrated my youngest daughter with my fingers while her sisters were present.

Records later showed that, during the 24 hours preceding those interviews, Misha Gudipati showed my oldest daughter a body-safety video and Jess Anderson then showed the same video to all three children. I believe that intervention, combined with repeated and suggestive questioning, helped shape the false narrative the children later repeated.

December 16, 2021 — The children’s mother amended her Order for Protection petition to include the sexual abuse allegation.

Protection Order Dismissed and Children Removed

March 4, 2022 — After nearly four months without contact with my children, the Order for Protection trial concluded. A school-bus driver testified that my middle daughter had injured her thigh during a fall on the bus. The court did not find that the alleged sexual abuse had occurred.

Result: Order for Protection dismissed. My parenting time was restored.

March 8, 2022 — CPS investigator Hirat Muse asked me to continue following the voluntary safety plan by having another adult present during my parenting time. I disagreed because the protection order was dismissed.

Before parenting time could resume, the children’s mother took them to Florida without telling me where they were.

March 9, 2022 — I filed a report with the Minneapolis Police Department for deprivation of parental rights.

March 10, 2022 — After 118 days without contact and without knowing where my children were, I opened a case with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

That same day, Hennepin County filed a Child in Need of Protection or Services (CHIPS) petition against me based substantially on the allegations dismissed in the family court trial.

March 16, 2022 — The children returned from Florida. I notified their school that I would pick them up the following day pursuant to the restored parenting schedule.

March 17, 2022 — I picked my daughters up from school and spent the afternoon with them at the St. Patrick’s Day parade and the Science Museum of Minnesota.

At approximately 6:00 p.m., Hirat Muse arrived at my home with Minneapolis police officers. He told officers that a court order prevented me from having contact with my daughters. No such court order existed.

After threatening to arrest me if I did not allow entry, officers removed all three children under a 72-hour Health and Welfare Hold. The hold stated that the children’s surroundings endangered their health or welfare.

I recorded the removal by Officers Ezra Moore and Roberto Hernandez and their reliance on Hirat Muse’s false representation that a court order prohibited my contact with the children, even though no such order existed. Watch the full video here.

Juvenile Court and Criminal Charge

March 22, 2022 — At an emergency Juvenile Court hearing, Judge Kathryn Quaintance expressed concern that the child-protection system might be used to gain leverage in a custody dispute. A continued hearing was scheduled before Judge Francis Magill.

March 29, 2022 — At the continued hearing, I called Muse and Minneapolis Police Officer Ezra Moore as witnesses.

Officer Moore testified that Muse told him I had violated a safety plan signed by a judge. Voluntary safety plans are not signed by judges. Moore also acknowledged that my home was not dangerous or unkempt and that the children were not in distress.

Despite this testimony, the court denied my motion to dismiss and ordered that the children remain with their mother.

March 30, 2022 — The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office notified my attorney that it intended to charge me with first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

April 4, 2022 — I was formally charged. The offense carried a presumptive prison sentence of approximately twelve years.

April 8, 2022 — Because of the criminal charge, Juvenile Court entered a no-contact order between my children and me. The juvenile case was placed on hold pending the criminal trial.

June 30, 2022 — The children’s mother sold her Minnesota home and moved with the children to Hudson, Wisconsin. She had not obtained my consent or advance authorization from Family Court for the relocation.

Criminal Trial and Acquittal

July 18, 2022 — My jury trial began per my constitutional request for a speedy trial within 60 days.

During his testimony, Hirat Muse initially suggested that my youngest daughter had disclosed inappropriate touching to a medical professional. He later acknowledged that, before his December 6 school interview, none of the children had alleged inappropriate touching.

My defense demonstrated inconsistencies in the allegations and argued that the children’s accounts had been affected by suggestive questioning and adult influence.

July 22, 2022 — The defense rested without calling a witness. After deliberation, a twelve-person jury found me not guilty.

Result: Acquitted of all criminal charges.

Attempt to Terminate My Parental Rights

Late July 2022 — I notified Juvenile Court of the acquittal and requested immediate reunification with my children.

August 1, 2022 — At a pretrial hearing, the court questioned whether a juvenile trial remained necessary. Hennepin County nevertheless proceeded with its petition and escalated the proceeding by seeking a termination of my parental rights (TPR).

August 25, 2022 — I asked the court to address the children’s education after their mother removed them from their bilingual International Baccalaureate school and enrolled them in Wisconsin. The court declined to intervene.

October 5–November 14, 2022 — The termination-of-parental-rights trial was conducted over six nonconsecutive days.

During the trial, Hirat Muse acknowledged that he did not have a court order authorizing the March 17 removal. Officer Moore testified that Muse had repeatedly told him that an order signed by a judge existed. Police body-camera footage documenting those representations was admitted into evidence. See the evidence here.

November 14, 2022 — After participating in the proceedings and testifying that my parental rights should be terminated, my oldest daughter experienced a mental health crisis and was admitted to an acute psychiatric hospital. CPS and the children’s mother did not notify me.

November 30, 2022 — I learned of the hospitalization and contacted children’s hospitals throughout the metropolitan area trying to locate my daughter.

December 21, 2022 — The court denied Hennepin County’s petition to terminate my parental rights. Rather than immediately dismissing the case, the court requested additional memoranda concerning whether it should retain jurisdiction under a different legal theory.

December 29, 2022 — My attorneys filed a post-trial motion arguing that continued jurisdiction violated my due-process rights and requested immediate dismissal.

January 12, 2023 — CPS informed the court that it had no affirmative argument supporting continued CHIPS jurisdiction.

January 13, 2023 — The court dismissed the termination petition and ended Juvenile Court jurisdiction.

Result: Termination petition denied and juvenile case dismissed.

Return to Family Court

January 18, 2023 — After approximately fourteen months without normal parenting time, I planned to pick the children up from school. Because of the emotional and psychological strain they had experienced, I involved professionals to help with the transition.

Jess Anderson did not send them to school that day.

January 19, 2023 — I filed an emergency Family Court motion seeking enforcement of my custody rights, findings concerning the Wisconsin relocation, and temporary sole custody. The children’s mother filed a competing emergency motion alleging that the children would run away if required to return to my home.

January 24, 2023 — Referee Jason Hutchison declined to return the children to my care or immediately address my request for contempt concerning the out-of-state move.

January 26, 2023 — I began a hunger strike to draw public attention to the continued separation and to demand action from the court.

February 3, 2023 — At a preliminary custody hearing, it appeared that the court might permit the children to return. I suspended the hunger strike.

February 9, 2023 — During an attorney status conference, the court initially agreed to supervised parenting time. After receiving a letter from opposing counsel objecting to the procedure, the court did not implement that arrangement.

March 3, 2023 — The custody trial began. Three witnesses testified on my behalf, including Jess Anderson’s own father.

He testified that his daughter had twice prevented him from seeing his grandchildren for more than a year and had misrepresented the reasons to the children. The court found him credible.

At the end of the hearing, Referee Jason Hutchison directed that parenting time occur before the trial concluded.

March 7, 2023 — Despite his prior directive and the evidence presented, Jason Hutchison authorized only 90 minutes of supervised parenting time each week with my two younger daughters. I was required to see them at a supervised visitation facility commonly used in abuse cases. I remained barred from seeing my oldest daughter.

March 31, 2023 — On the second day of trial, the children’s mother testified that she had not made reports to CPS and could not recall whether her husband had done so. I introduced CPS recordings that contradicted portions of that testimony.

The court also questioned the parties about an older allegation involving an alleged threat and agreed that I could later offer rebuttal testimony.

April 27, 2023 — On the final trial date, the court limited my additional testimony to approximately 15 minutes and restricted it to my experience at the supervised visitation center. I was not permitted to offer the broader rebuttal testimony I had requested.

Custody Order and Restricted Parenting Time

August 9, 2023 — Referee Jason Hutchison and his law clerk, Kala Swenson, issued an egregious order awarding the children’s mother sole legal and sole physical custody.

The order:

• Denied me all parenting time with my oldest daughter.
• Required me to travel to Hudson, Wisconsin, for three hours of weekly parenting time with my two younger daughters.
• Allowed the younger children to spend approximately 24 hours at my home only twice each month.

The order itself materially mischaracterized the testimony of two witnesses, including key testimony from Jess Anderson’s father.

November 15, 2023 — I moved for amended findings. The children’s maternal grandfather submitted an affidavit stating that the custody order inaccurately described his testimony. I also argued that the order violated state law and my constitutional rights.

January 18, 2024 — As expected, Jason Hutchison ignored the evidence and denied my motion for amended findings.

Minnesota Court of Appeals

September 23, 2024 — The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the Family Court order. In an opinion written by Judge Jon Schmidt, the court relied substantially on the broad discretion given to district courts in custody cases and did not resolve the constitutional question I presented.

Prior to joining the court, Jon Schmidt served on the board of the American Constitution Society’s Minnesota chapter, a left-wing, progressive legal advocacy organization. Governor Tim Walz appointed Schmidt to the Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2023.

Minnesota Supreme Court

October 19, 2024 — I petitioned the Minnesota Supreme Court for further review.

I asked the court to decide whether the state may remove a parent’s custody and parenting time without first finding that the parent is unfit and whether doing so violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

January 21, 2025 — The Minnesota Supreme Court denied further review and left the underlying constitutional question unresolved.

Therapist Corrective Action

April 9, 2024 — I filed a formal complaint against Mishawn Gudipati (aka Misha Gudipati) with the Minnesota Board of Marriage and Family Therapy citing her inappropriate and unprofessional conduct.

April 28, 2026 — The Minnesota Board of Marriage and Family Therapy issued Corrective Action against Mishawn Gudipati, LMFT.

The public agreement states that Gudipati:

• Submitted letters to CPS in March, July, and August 2022 containing recommendations concerning the father’s therapy, contact, supervised visitation, co-parenting services, and reunification.
• Engaged in conduct that the Board’s Complaint Panel viewed as inappropriate under Minnesota law and professional reporting requirements.

The Board required Misha Gudipati to complete individual consultation concerning ethical issues in high-conflict family-court cases, professional scope of practice, and requirements for reports submitted to third parties.

The agreement remains public and may be reopened if its requirements are not completed or similar complaints arise.