Renatha Francis, a high-profile judge, and Phillip Fender, her husband, caused a bizarre scene in a condo swimming area on the Fourth of July. A woman whose family is still recovering from it stated.
Olga Mervyak, a woman from Poinciana, Central Florida, was visiting her relatives at Cityside Condominiums, West Palm Beach, to celebrate the holiday with her four daughters.
A stranger, later identified as Francis, had claimed that Mervyak had neglected her children and threatened to take them away. The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the Mervyak family after the judge made a complaint.
Both cases remain unresolved. There have been no charges.
Last week, Polk County Sgt. Peter Lawton informed Florida Bulldog that the sheriff’s investigation was over. The case report is public record. Mervyak was contacted by Lawton minutes later to inform her that the investigation is still ongoing. The report is still off-limits.
“WE’RE NOT GONNA BULLIED”
Lawton didn’t respond to an email asking for explanations. He also declined to say whether special treatment was being given because the matter was initiated by Francis, who is also a mother.
Her words might be more important than those of others. Governor. Ron DeSantis will soon announce the successor to retiring Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson. Francis is leading a small list of candidates being considered.
Mervyak didn’t know who the couple was at the pool. She later searched the Internet and viewed photos to discover that the woman was Judge Renatha Fran of the Palm Beach Circuit Court Family Division and Phillip Fender, her husband.
Mervyak’s husband was not able to visit West Palm Beach on July 4 with his family and expressed outrage several weeks later.
“We are not going to be bullied. Oleg Mervyak, a Ukrainian immigrant, said that the U.S. is home and it’s not Russia. “Just because this lady’s a judge doesn’t mean that she can do what she wants.
“She put us through the wringer.” He claimed that his children were traumatized at the thought of being separated. The oldest child, who was 13 years old, suffered panic attacks and an episode of depression when a DCF investigator interrogated her.
FRANCIS TAKES OUT THE BABY’S RASH
Mervyak does not intend to sue anyone nor file an ethics complaint against Francis. He said, “We just want the peace and quiet.”
According to the Mervyaks, their oldest daughter was in a pavilion by the pool with her 10-month old sister on July 4. A man and woman approached the stroller, crying as the baby was still teething. Francis was urged to help Francis by the woman. He reached inside and unbuckled the baby before lifting her out. On her back, a red rash appeared around her shoulder. (A doctor diagnosed contact Dermatitis and prescribed an ointment.
Fender, the man, placed the baby on her unsteady little legs. Fender’s sister ran over to grab her. They now had Olga Mervyak’s full attention, who was keeping an eye on their other two children in the swimming pool.
Francis was confronted by her. She confronted Francis, apparently incensed at the baby’s crying and the rash.
Mervyak stated, “She was assertive, almost shouting,” and “telling me, “I will take your kids away from you for neglect and abuse.”
She claimed that Francis also blamed the mother for the baby’s rash and that she scolded the mother for leaving her children unattended for “hours at a time” as well as for placing the baby in a cold location. It was actually an open-air pavilion.
JUDGES REPORT NONYMOUSLY
Mervyak recently asked Mervyak: “If the situation were that dire, why didn’t she call DCF or the police right then?” “Why didn’t she take my children from me immediately if she felt I was unfit to be a mother?”
The argument escalated to a very dramatic scene, which ended when Mervyak and her children walked out of the pool. Mervyak returned briefly to offer the judge her final words of advice. “I told her that the next time she has a problem about the way someone raises their children, she can get them to talk it out and not blow things out of proportion.”
Florida Bulldog wrote Francis’ office asking for comments by Francis or Fender, but received no reply. Fender’s contact information was not available.
Some types of “mandatory reporter”, meaning those who have to report evidence of child neglect or abuse when they see it, do not need to be identified by name. Francis is a judge.
Mervyak’s family said Francis’ presence in Cityside Condominiums was not surprising since she and her family lived there once before moving away around a year ago. A Cityside address is listed as a business address by Fender.
FRANCIS’S HUSBAND HELPES PICK JUDGES
Fender is the CEO of Transformation Media Group Inc.. According to his entry on about.me, he does government consulting, legal and medical referrals, and creates global contact centers as well as merchant payment processes. Fender is also a motivational speaker, and the director of House of Protection in Pompano Beach.
Fender, a non-lawyer member of Judicial Nominating Commission which helps to select trial judges for 15th Judicial Circuit of Palm Beach County. Francis was already a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission when DeSantis named her husband to it in early 2020.
The governor appointed Judge Renatha France to the Supreme Court several months later. DeSantis pre-selected Renatha Francis for the next opening after the appointment fell apart.
The Mervyaks refused to face the DCF or Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigations with no legal counsel. The Mervyaks believed they had found the Francis connection off-putting, so they declined to meet with the other half-dozen lawyers.
They finally found Yuliya Polock, a Casselberry family and criminal defense attorney, who was willing to represent them. They decided to tell the story of Frances.
Oleg Mervyak stated that it was a good example for their daughters. “We decided to go public because it would be the best protection against her harassing us again.”