Courtesy of Paul Staehle/Instagram; Courtesy of Karine Staehle/Instagram
’90 Day Fiance’ Stars Paul and Karine ‘Were Both Guilty’ of Drama That Led to Custody Battle
90 Day Fiancé stars Paul Staehle and Karine Staehle “were both guilty” of drama that led to their custody battle with CPS for sons Pierre and Ethan, a source exclusively tells In Touch.
“They should never have posted their private life on social media. This is still a long, drawn-out thing,” an insider says of the court case, adding that the “only victims” are the “sweet innocent babies who never asked for any of this.”
The source adds that while Pierre, 3, and Ethan, 22 months, both love their parents “very much,” the boys are “doing so well” in the “care of an extremely loving, caring family.”
The insider also mentions that Paul was even once given a warning by a “wise appointed lawyer” that told him, “If you don’t want more problems, don’t get the government involved and stay off social media with your personal problems.”
News first broke of the 90 Day Fiancé couple’s looming custody battle in June 2022, after the National Center for Missing and Exploited sent out a missing person alert for Pierre. The poster also featured a photo of Paul, 39, because the 3-year-old was thought to be in the company of his father. The reason why Pierre was thought to be missing was because he and his brother, Ethan, were already in the custody of CPS at the time.
Pierre was eventually found on July 3, 2022, the Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed to In Touch, saying that he was “located and safe” and that the missing person’s case was closed as of 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 to his mother, Mary Staehle, at the time. “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.”
Just days before it was confirmed that Pierre was returned safe, Paul took to Instagram to slam his current custody situation, claiming if parents “have their kids taken, the grandparents should be allowed custody.” However, Ethan and Pierre were placed in the care of a foster family instead of their paternal grandparents.
Three months later, Paul revealed he and Karine are now “working as a team” to get their sons back and slammed Child Protective Services for not allowing Karine to spend more time with their sons amid the custody battle.
“She still only sees our kids one day a week for one hour if they have time,” the dad of two updated fans in October 2022 via his Instagram Stories. “Karine has three therapists, did her drug [and] alcohol classes but because she is Brazilian, she is treated differently. They even canceled our children’s passports and said they cannot return to Brazil.”
Paul and Karine were introduced to fans during season 1 of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, which premiered in August 2017. The series documented the Kentucky native as he traveled to a remote region of the Amazon region to meet Karine for the first time. After getting married in November 2017, the couple welcomed Pierre in March 2019 and Ethan in February 2021. However, they faced many issues in their on-off marriage.
The 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Day alums split for good in December 2021 after a video surfaced online that appeared to capture an alleged domestic altercation. In the 10-second clip viewed by In Touch, Karine appeared to grab Paul by his hair before grabbing him around his neck and slamming him against the couch, while their eldest son, a then-2-year-old Pierre, was nearby in the living room. It’s unknown when the viral video sparking concerns was filmed.
Following the altercation, Karine appeared to address the domestic violence allegations in a since-deleted Instagram statement.
“Do you know when you’ve tried everything? And when I say everything, it’s everything you can imagine and then some,” the Brazil native wrote on December, 17, 2021, according to a screenshot obtained by blogger, John Yates. “The night before I spent awake and reflecting on everything I’ve been through and many things, it was for the love of my children and it will always be for them and that will never change. I woke up determined, asked for a divorce, that’s right, divorce. [Now] what will happen to me, I don’t know but God knows. At the moment, I just want the lap of my family and especially my mother, to go back to my house and start my life over.”
In regards to the looming custody case, Paul updated his followers that the “future of his children” was set to be determined in court on Wednesday, January 11.
“I will attend virtually with Karine. We pray for the best,” he wrote via Instagram the day before. As for Karine, she shared a GoFundMe fundraiser via social media in hopes to get donations for a “lawyer to get her kids back.”
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