International custody battle

Sandy Thompson

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

On Tuesday in Las Vegas, Cisilie Vaile said goodbye to her young daughters, not knowing when she would see them again.

On Wednesday, Cisilie's ex-husband, Scotlund Vaile, took the girls, age 5 and 9, to live with him in Texas, according to a Family Court custody order.

It is the latest -- but Cisilie hopes not final -- chapter in an international custody saga that came to a head when Scotlund took the girls from Norway, where they had been living with Cisilie for nearly two years.

Cisilie, a Norwegian citizen, said her American ex-husband kidnapped the girls last month. Their whereabouts were unknown for at least a month, when they were traced to Scotlund's home in Texas. Scotlund's Las Vegas attorneys, Joseph Dempsey and paralegal Mark Anderson, said it was not a kidnapping since Scotlund had a custody order from Clark County Family Court Judge Dianne Steel giving him the right to pick up the children in Norway.

Cisilie contends the divorce and custody order were fraudulently obtained since neither the Vailes nor their daughters ever lived in Las Vegas. She said the matter should be decided in Norway.

"I don't understand the Nevada justice system," she said, her voice drained of emotion.

The Family Court ruling sparked a barrage of media coverage in Norway this week. A TV station there contracted with a local film crew to report the case from Las Vegas. Cisilie said the Norwegian government has expressed its outrage and is paying some of her legal fees, which so far have reached $40,000 that she says she can't afford.

Her Las Vegas attorneys, Marshall Willick and Bob Cerceo, who were contacted by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the case, plan to file a writ with the Nevada Supreme Court to overturn the decision.

Willick contends the divorce order is not valid and that Judge Steel should have abided by the Hague Convention, an agreement among some nations to honor the others' child custody and abduction laws. According to the agreement, an international custody dispute or parental abduction case should be decided in the place of the children's "habitual residence." In this case, it should be Norway, Willick said.

Cisilie met Scotlund while he was on a Mormon mission in Norway. Married in June 1990 in Salt Lake City, the Vailes lived in Ohio and Virginia before Scotlund was transferred by his employer to London. By that time, the couple had two daughters.

Cisilie contended it was an abusive marriage, and that Scotlund was emotionally and financially controlling.

Scotlund's attorneys called Cisilie's claims "ridiculous." They said her comments in court "were rife with inconsistencies and misrepresentations."

While in London, Scotlund told Cisilie he wanted a divorce, but he did not want to go through a long waiting period. She said Scotlund found that Nevada had only a six-week residency requirement, so he decided to file for divorce in Las Vegas.

The Vailes could not agree on custody arrangements. Fearing that he would kidnap the girls and take them to the United States, Cisilie sought legal help in London. British authorities forbade Scotlund to leave England for a time, and took his and the girls' passports.

They returned his passport on July 9, 1998. On that day, shortly before he left for the United States, Cisilie said Scotlund gave her a 23-page divorce agreement to sign, which detailed custody. The document also said there were "no marital assets" to be divided.

Cisilie said she disagreed with the terms, but signed the document because Scotlund threatened that she would never see the children if she didn't.

Scotlund went to the United States, and Cisilie and the girls went to live in Norway, per one of the terms of the agreement.

Scotlund's attorneys disputed Cisilie's claim that she signed the divorce agreement under duress. In her ruling, Judge Steel said that if Cisilie truly objected to the terms, she could have filed an action in England or Norway.

In anticipation of filing for a Las Vegas divorce, Scotlund had his credit card bill statement mailed to a Las Vegas address May 12, 1998. The address purportedly was one used by his mother who had just moved here.

Willick said that on July 14, 1998 -- five days after he left London -- Scotlund signed his complaint for divorce in Las Vegas and "falsely claimed that he had been living in Las Vegas since at least June 2."

The uncontested divorce, which included the document signed by Cisilie, was granted. In August, Scotlund returned to London.

After the divorce, the couple continued to disagree about custody. Scotlund wanted Cisilie and the girls to move to the United States at some point, but she objected. The Vailes went through mediation in Norway, where Cisilie and the girls were living, but they still could not agree.

A month later, on Feb. 18, 2000, Scotlund petitioned Clark County Family Court for custody of the girls. Cisilie said he still was not a Las Vegas resident. At some point, he moved from London to Texas.

Apparently not aware of the mediation in Norway, Family Court granted Scotlund custody on March 29, saying he could pick up the girls in Norway. At the time, the court noted that there was no objection to Scotlund's motion from Cisilie. Willick said Cisilie's attorney in Norway did send a letter to the judge opposing the custody change, but because the letter didn't look "official," it was returned.

In May, Scotlund met Cisilie and the girls in Norway. While in a hotel suite, he told the girls he had a surprise for them in the next room.

A few minutes later, he returned from the room alone, and started talking to Cisilie about custody. He then left the room and didn't return. Cisilie discovered the door to the other room was locked, and the girls and Scotlund had disappeared. Police and Interpol were notified.

Scotlund left a letter at the hotel front desk containing the Las Vegas custody order. Cisilie would later find out that he took the girls to Texas.

Cisilie has been in Las Vegas since Oct. 3 trying to fight the Family Court order. She questions why Judge Steel, who in the initial divorce proceedings said she had no jurisdiction of the girls since they never lived in Nevada, has taken emergency jurisdiction.

"I trusted America to make a Hague Convention ruling," Cisilie said.

In her order signed Wednesday, Steel said the court "makes no Hague Convention determination, but if it did make such a determination, the court would find that the habitual residence ... for the children would be the state of Nevada, pursuant to the decree of divorce."

Steel said the mailing of the credit card bill to Las Vegas was proof of Scotlund's intent to move his residence here. Hence, the divorce and custody agreement were not fraudulently obtained, she said.

Steel also said that judges from Norway and Texas (where Scotlund resides) should decide who has ultimate jurisdiction of the children. When that is settled, she said, she will relinquish jurisdiction.

"The judge rewrote Nevada's residency rules," Cisilie said.

"I don't understand."