Reality TV
90 Day Fiance’s Karine Staehle Creates GoFundMe for Lawyer Amid Custody Battle For Sons Pierre and Ethan
90 Day Fiance alum Karine Staehle is asking for help in the form of a GoFundMe donation to pay for a lawyer amid the custody battle for sons Pierre and Ethan.
“My two Brazilian children were taken from me by American CPS because me and my husband argued in front of our children [sic],” the mom of two, 26, wrote in the description for the fundraiser, which she shared via her Instagram Stories on Friday, November 4. “They will not give me an opportunity to get my kids back.”
The Brazil native’s sons — Pierre, 3, and Ethan, 20 months — whom she shares with her estranged husband, Paul Staehle, are reportedly in the custody of Child Protective Services.
While the reality TV personality noted she had been “fully compliant” with Child Protective Services for over a year now, the TLC star is still only allowed 1-2 hours a week with her kids in the form of supervised visitation.
“It seems because I am Brazilian,” the South American native continued. “They revoked my children’s passports and made it clear my children will not return to Brazil where they were born. Please help me hire a lawyer.”
That same day, Paul, 39, confirmed that he and Karine were working “as a team” amid the legal battle for their children.
“Me and Karine are friends. We talk constantly, we’re good,” the dad of two told 90 Day Fiancé blogger John Yates in a video interview. “I tell Karine, maybe we should get the Brazilian embassy involved at this point.”
In the same conversation, the 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days alum also claimed that he isn’t able to see his sons until their 18th birthdays.
“I’ve done everything they said … and they won’t remove the order,” Paul continued before revealing why he was given an “18-year ban.” “I let Karine see the kids … There was an order on there that Karine could only see the kids supervised. I let Karine see the kids unsupervised, therefore I violated the court orders.”
News of the 90 Day Fiancé couple’s heated custody battle first broke on June 8, when the pair’s older son was reported missing and thought to be in the company of his father. On July 1, Paul hinted at the brewing custody battle.
“If two parents have their kids taken, the grandparents or [a] relative should be allowed to have temporary custody,” he wrote via his Instagram Stories. “To ban the grandparents from the children as well as the natural parents is very sad.”
On July 2, the Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed to In Touch that the toddler was “located and safe” and the missing person’s case was closed on that date.
“He did the exchange with his parents and dropped Pierre off along with Pierre’s stuff at a local park,” a source separately confirmed to In Touch about Paul dropping off Pierre with his mom. Ethan had already been previously taken into CPS custody, where they are to this day.
Paul and Karine debuted their international love story on season 1 of 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days. The spinoff documented the Louisville, Kentucky, native as he traveled to a remote part of the Amazon region to meet the brunette beauty for the first time in person. Despite her family’s concerns over the relationship due to his criminal past, the pair tied the knot in November 2019 and their wedding aired during a season 2 episode.
