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Eric Kalmus is a husband, and father of three. He is a long-time child rights activist and IT professional. Born in New York, he currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Eric has devoted his life to fighting for children’s rights, with several compelling reasons that led him down this path.

On two separate occasions during his childhood, Eric and his older brother were taken from their habitual residence without court order. The first time, as an eight-year-old child, he was taken from one county in New York to another. The local courts remedied this quickly and he was returned home. On the second occasion, he was taken across state lines. Not understanding what had really happened, Eric was at first excited about the new life he had living in Los Angeles. This “honeymoon effect” didn’t last long and he came to understand that he was not going back. Eric began saving his money so he could go home. By age 14 he had enough to purchase a one-way airplane ticket home. Midway through the school year, Eric made his move. He emptied his bank account, and flew back to New York. Parental abduction has had long lasting and devastating effects in Eric’s life.

In 1995 he decided on a major life-change and moved to Japan. Eric fell in love, married a Japanese woman and they had a daughter a year later. In 1998, the couple decided to divorce, and Eric’s ex-wife denied him all further contact with their daughter. It was as though the world had been pulled out from underneath Eric. As an American, it was an incomprehensible shock to learn that other countries didn’t have the same custody laws, or customs as the United States. Eric had lost all parental rights upon divorce. Devastated, he lost his fight to see his daughter as well as his spouse Visa, so Eric returned home to California at the end of 1999.

It wasn’t until 2003 that Eric found other fathers who had been dealing with the same loss. One of the fathers invited him to help create the Japan Children’s Rights Network website to share information about the lack of enforceable family law in Japan and the possible consequences of divorce. This gave him some hope that even though he may not be able to rectify his own situation, he might be able to help others facing this awful scenario. The comfort he found in helping other parents and children fueled his desire to become as knowledgeable on the subject as he could. The Japan Children’s Rights Network website, www.crnjapan.net, has hundreds of pages of news stories, personal accounts and resources for left-behind parents as well as law and other resources for attorneys.

The knowledge Eric gained from a lifetime of work in the parental abduction field has allowed him to further assist parents after abduction. He acts as a legal advocate and court certified expert on international Parental Abduction. He guides people through the difficulties of dealing with legal systems throughout the world. However, legal assistance doesn’t resolve all cases. Eric is also a child recovery expert. When needed and when in the best interest of the child, Eric’s company ABP World Group will organize and dispatch specially trained personnel to recover children from dangerous situations.

Eric’s main objective is always to put a child’s best interests first, and preserve their right to know both mom and dad. He has worked on approximately 500 cases since 2003, and has been instrumental in reuniting hundreds of children with their parents from working in numerous countries across 5 continents.

In this line of work, having people openly oppose the work Eric does, or attempt to thwart his efforts simply goes with the territory. Even with this opposition, Eric continues to press on, knowing that his objective is protecting children’s rights.

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” -Winston Churchill

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Navigating the world of Parental Abduction can be difficult, even for the most knowledgeable attorney.  In many cases your normal Divorce Attorney may not have experience with cases of International Parental Abduction.  Eric focuses on assisting you not only in finding the proper attorney when warranted, but can also support you in preparing a Pro-Sea case (going to court without an attorney.) He can assist you in making sure you have the proper paper work in order so the local courts assist you in making sure no time is wasted in getting your children returned.

Email:  contact@abpworld.com                      Telephone: +1 (805) CHILD 11

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What is an Expert Witness?   “a person who is permitted to testify at a trial because of special knowledge or proficiency in a particular field that is relevant to the case.”

Eric has passed the daubert challenge on numerous occasions and has been admitted to speak in courts in the United States and Europe as an Expert Witness.  When a family court judge needs assistance in understand how local and federal parental abduction law impacts the case before them an Expert Witness can be called in.

For further information on cases Eric has been involved in click here.

Email:  contact@abpworld.com                      Telephone: +1 (805) CHILD 11

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Abduction is Abduction, The hypocrisy of the Megumi Yokota Story – 2006, Hollywood California, Arc Light Theater Protest.

Face The Truth – 2007, Portland Oregon, Hollywood Theater Protest.

Null & Void – Student Film About a Left Behind Parents struggle, Produced by Eric Kalmus

Email:  contact@abpworld.com                      Telephone: +1 (805) CHILD 11

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• Eric is a great resource and valued partner in a time of crisis.   He understands the situation, and all the traumatic emotions we may be going through of hopelessness, anger and sorrow because he lived through it.   He provided a pillar of strength when I needed support the most.  He was there to provide guidance and help during the darkest hours and he is always willing to pick up and talk when I needed someone to offer advise even in the most inconvenient hours.
  I highly appreciate Eric’s help and would recommend his services to anyone who would be in a similar unfortunate situation.   – Chen in Illinois

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• If I had not found Eric, I would not have made it through this ordeal. He was able to guide me every step of the way so that I did not make the mistakes common to parents in such situations. He has been there before, he has counseled parents before, and he knows how to keep you focused: “You want to preserve your child’s right to have you in her life.” That was what he told me, and it was exactly what I was thinking.I sought Eric out because he is child-centered in his approach to parental abduction. There are many so-called “men’s rights” activists who advertise themselves as child abduction experts. These are men with a grudge against women. Avoid them. Call Eric instead. If you have lost your child, then the last thing you need to do is to take your focus away from the child who needs you and put it in the service of hateful and irrelevant agendas. Eric, as I mentioned, is focused on the best interests of the child. I was concerned for my daughter. Eric understood. – Anthony in Massechusets

• I just wanted to say thank... I left Japan in 2010 with my children and am raising them here in the US. Its been six years now- i found (crnjapan.net) this site when I was at my most desperate. I was alone in a country powerless to advocate for my children’s interests. Reading the stories here let me formulate a way to a way to extricate myself from a losing battle. Thank you Eric – Robert in the USA

• While I was in the deepest despair after the kidnapping of my child by his mother in Japan, I found the contact details of Eric on the internet. Soon, I was in contact with him in order to organize the return of my child. I was impressed by his responsiveness, his smooth communication and especially by the very wise advices his has shown. Legal advices in the first place, were capital to get my child back. Then the professionalism he showed during the operation allowed me to get my child back healthy and sound and in legal way. Eric has a vast experience, he helped me and he surrounded me, and at then end the miracle happened. In addition to the great joy of having my child healthy and safe, I gained a friend for life. Thank you from the bottom Eric ! I am the father of a child abducted to Japan – Emmanuel in France

• Just wanted to take the time to say thank you. Your services provide more than just hope. As a parent and military member, appreciation is does not even come close to the actual feeling you give back to families. The people who risk their lives to save our children are more than human. A level compassion and courage that many will never experience. The loss of a child is the loss of that parents whole life. The fact there are those that will risk everything for a innocent child, they will forever be the most extraordinary people in this world. – Sargent Nick, deployed in Europe
  

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• Eric was incredibly helpful.  He has a great deal of experience and he was able to use his experience to immediately and accurately assess the situation that my child and i were facing.  He also helped me to speak with the authorities, find a therapist, and hire an attorney.  He was even helpful with practical things like reminding me to manage banking, telephone, and internet matters.  Thank you Eric

• Thank you for the support and advice, you helped me to stay strong and keep on track! – UK Father

• Eric has been great –  We had a victory today, it was quite an amazing day, in court I think Eric may well have saved my kids – and set off a chain reaction, that will now create change… Thanks so much for the introduction. Invaluable. – Timothy from Australia

• Would love to meet you and take you to dinner at least – just wanted to say thank you as your advice saved my son… – Middle East mother

Email:  contact@abpworld.com                      Telephone: +1 (805) CHILD 11

MEDIA        TESTIMONIALS        ADVOCACY       SHORT FILMS        EXPERT TESTIMONY

Eric Kalmus is a husband, and father of three. He is a long-time child rights activist and IT professional. Born in New York, he currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Eric has devoted his life to fighting for children’s rights, with several compelling reasons that led him down this path.

On two separate occasions during his childhood, Eric and his older brother were taken from their habitual residence without court order. The first time, as an eight-year-old child, he was taken from one county in New York to another. The local courts remedied this quickly and he was returned home. On the second occasion, he was taken across state lines. Not understanding what had really happened, Eric was at first excited about the new life he had living in Los Angeles. This “honeymoon effect” didn’t last long and he came to understand that he was not going back. Eric began saving his money so he could go home. By age 14 he had enough to purchase a one-way airplane ticket home. Midway through the school year, Eric made his move. He emptied his bank account, and flew back to New York. Parental abduction has had long lasting and devastating effects in Eric’s life.

In 1995 he decided on a major life-change and moved to Japan. Eric fell in love, married a Japanese woman and they had a daughter a year later. In 1998, the couple decided to divorce, and Eric’s ex-wife denied him all further contact with their daughter. It was as though the world had been pulled out from underneath Eric. As an American, it was an incomprehensible shock to learn that other countries didn’t have the same custody laws, or customs as the United States. Eric had lost all parental rights upon divorce. Devastated, he lost his fight to see his daughter as well as his spouse Visa, so Eric returned home to California at the end of 1999.

It wasn’t until 2003 that Eric found other fathers who had been dealing with the same loss. One of the fathers invited him to help create the Japan Children’s Rights Network website to share information about the lack of enforceable family law in Japan and the possible consequences of divorce. This gave him some hope that even though he may not be able to rectify his own situation, he might be able to help others facing this awful scenario. The comfort he found in helping other parents and children fueled his desire to become as knowledgeable on the subject as he could. The Japan Children’s Rights Network website, www.crnjapan.net, has hundreds of pages of news stories, personal accounts and resources for left-behind parents as well as law and other resources for attorneys.

The knowledge Eric gained from a lifetime of work in the parental abduction field has allowed him to further assist parents after abduction. He acts as a legal advocate and court certified expert on international Parental Abduction. He guides people through the difficulties of dealing with legal systems throughout the world. However, legal assistance doesn’t resolve all cases. Eric is also a child recovery expert. When needed and when in the best interest of the child, Eric’s company ABP World Group will organize and dispatch specially trained personnel to recover children from dangerous situations.

Eric’s main objective is always to put a child’s best interests first, and preserve their right to know both mom and dad. He has worked on approximately 500 cases since 2003, and has been instrumental in reuniting hundreds of children with their parents from working in numerous countries across 5 continents.

In this line of work, having people openly oppose the work Eric does, or attempt to thwart his efforts simply goes with the territory. Even with this opposition, Eric continues to press on, knowing that his objective is protecting children’s rights.

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” -Winston Churchill