(File photo/ CJME News staff)

By Britton Gray/ CJME News

‘Obviously relieved’: Mariecar Jackson’s lawyer speaks after daughter’s return

Feb 28, 2022 | 5:26 PM

Mariecar Jackson has finally been reunited with her daughter Sarah after months of work by police.

Sarah’s father, Michael Gordon Jackson, allegedly refused to return the girl to Mariecar’s care in November despite a custody ruling by the courts. He reportedly didn’t want his daughter to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

Michael was on the run for months with his daughter, but they were found last Thursday outside of a business in Vernon, B.C. Michael was arrested and Sarah was returned to her mother.

“It has been an overwhelmingly emotional period for her. She’s obviously relieved that Sarah was home but at the same time, Sarah was not with her for an extended period of time and exposed solely to whatever influence Mr. Jackson was having over her for a period of months,” Jill Drennan, a lawyer representing Mariecar, told Gormley on Monday.

“She and Sarah are taking some time to regroup, just collect themselves and I think are doing quite well now that they are reunited. It sounds to me like they are going to be taking a little bit of time out of the public eye and away with each other just to rekindle things and get grounded again.”

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Drennan said there’s a possibility that parental alienation can come into this. That’s when one parent has a child for months and tells them all sorts of things about the other one.

“It’s definitely a concern and something Mariecar is alive to and made arrangements to try and address directly with Sarah,” Drennan said.

“We don’t know the full extent of how she has been impacted by her time away with Mr. Jackson. It might be that she transitions more easily than we think but it’s something that Mariecar has made some plans to address with her in the event it is a more difficult transition.”

Drennan said Mariecar was grateful for all the support shown during this time.

“There were many, many members of the public who reached out to try and assist with tips or information that might have led to the police or us locating Mr. Jackson. There was also just a great amount of heartfelt emotional support for Mariecar that was expressed to myself and to her in a number of forms,” Drennan said.

“We do think it made a significant difference and this has been a team effort for the last while with the police and the public and our legal effort to try to bring Mr. Jackson to the table here and bring Sarah home.”

Drennan said Michael Jackson is to be transported back to Regina for an appearance in provincial court this week. He was the subject of a Canada-wide arrest warrant on a charge of abduction in contravention of a parenting or custody order.

“I suspect he will have to speak to the issue of bail and possible release and deal with prosecutions on that. On the flip side, there will be ongoing civil proceedings in the Family Court matter between himself and Mariecar,” Drennan said.

“It’s essentially an abduction charge under the Criminal Code and in this specific case, he was charged with contravening a custody order in place that granted custody of Sarah Jackson to Mariecar.”