Courtesy of Karine Staehle/Instagram; Courtesy of Paul Staehle/Instagram
90 Day Fiance’s Karine Shares Rare Update in Custody Battle for Sons Pierre, Ethan: ‘I Will Never Stop Fighting’
90 Day Fiancé star Karine Staehle (née Martins) shared a rare update amid her and estranged husband Paul Staehle’s custody battle for their two young sons, Pierre and Ethan.
“I come here to say that my children are not with me yet, but I can see them,” the 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days alum, 26, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, September 18. “I can’t take it anymore and there are times when I want to talk about what the three of us are going through. I’m always a good mother and I’m going through it, it’s not just me who suffers, my children suffer too.”
The Brazil native’s sons — Pierre, 3, and Ethan, 19 months — are reportedly in the custody of Paul’s mother, Mary Staehle.
“I will never stop fighting for you two. Pierre and Ethan, you are my life,” she continued.
The custody battle drama started on June 8, when the pair’s older son, Pierre, was reported missing and thought to be in the company of his father. One week prior, Paul, 39, hinted at the brewing custody issues. “If two parents have their kids taken, the grandparents or [a] relative should be allowed to have temporary custody,” the father of two wrote on July 1 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.
“Paul’s mom [Mary] was hopeful that she would be able to keep Pierre until Monday, but CPS picked up Pierre from her house early on Sunday evening,” the insider continued. After they were both taken into CPS custody, Ethan and Pierre were placed with a foster family.
Following the exchange, the 90 Day Fiancé alum told blogger John Yates about what led to the tense situation. Paul previously obtained custody of his kids in December 2021, according to his account.
“Karine called into the courts that Paul was trying to murder her,” John alleged, after prefacing that this is all Paul’s version of events. “When that happened, the judge got pissed off and took the kids away from both Paul and Karine and even Paul’s mom.”
Ahead of the pair’s July 11 court hearing, Paul shared another update during an appearance on the Domenick Nati Show.
“Everything’s still in court right now, hopefully, everything will be adjudicated and done this month,” the TLC alum explained. “We’re hoping for the best right now. The kids look like they’ll be moving to my mother’s house, so they’ll be there for a while me and Karine figure out what we want to do in life, they’ll at least be with family.”
A month later, the mother of two took to social media to share an update, along with slamming any trolls who questioned her as a mother.
“My children are my top priority. I miss them every minute and I’m doing everything I can to get them back,” she wrote via her Instagram Story in both English and Portuguese on August 10. “I’m just not allowed to talk about it. If you don’t believe that then f—k you.”
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