New York’s Crooked Austin I. Idehen: Judicial Misconduct Exposed

Holding public officials accountable for misconduct is essential to preserving the integrity of the legal system. This includes individuals like Austin Isiuwa Idehen, a crooked attorney who currently serves in the New York family court system, including in Kings County Family Court. I became a victim of what I believe were unethical and incompetent actions on his part, and I have chosen to share my story bravely in order to expose the lack of integrity among those entrusted to uphold the law.

On November 27, 2018, I submitted a petition at Kings County Family Court, seeking enforcement of the final joint custody order granted on May 17, 2012, in Suffolk County Family Court. In my petition, I urgently requested the court’s assistance in protecting my son and me from further exposure to his father’s abuse toward me. During proceedings, Idehen acknowledged the validity of the existing joint custody order—one that explicitly prohibited any form of abuse.

Photo above: Final Joint Custody Order granted by Suffolk County Family Court on May 17, 2012 (Docket # V-3903-11 / 12C).
This order finalized joint legal and physical custody of my son between his father and me, incorporating explicit provisions prohibiting abuse and establishing the operative terms for all subsequent proceedings in this docket.

Photo above: Kings County Family Court’s Transcripts from March 13th, 2019. Idehen verbally confirms the validity of the final custody order. 

Despite Idehen's acknowledgment of the validity of the final joint custody order—which explicitly prohibited any form of abuse—he proceeded months later to file a motion on the father's behalf seeking to modify the custody arrangement that had already been established and modified in 2012. This action occurred even though the father had explicitly told Idehen that he did not want sole custody when asked to pursue such a filing.

Photo above: Idehen’s Petition to modify Joint Custody that was granted by Suffolk County Family Court on March 11th, 2011, Docket # V-3903-11. In this petition, he requests for sole custody.

Throughout the custody proceedings, Austin I. Idehen, as counsel for the father, engaged in repeated unprofessional, inappropriate, and concerning conduct that undermined the integrity of the process. Examples include:

• Inappropriately comparing his own child and the attorney-referee‘s child to my child.
• Casually sharing personal conversations and laughing with the attorney-referee about their vacations, latest restaurants visited, and about their children during court proceedings.
• Appearing in virtual hearings (during COVID) all sweaty while dressed in a white tank top, drinking from a mug in what appeared to be a relaxed, casual home setting (such as from a porch, backyard, or similar), despite expectations of professional attire and behavior in New York family court proceedings.
• Repeatedly insisting that I had no family or friends without any evidence.
• Harassing me by constantly accusing me of falsehoods in order to cause me emotional distress, anxiety and intimidation, while being fully aware of my PTSD diagnosis.
• Asserting that his client could smoke marijuana in front of my son, even though this would directly violate the existing custody order’s prohibitions.
• He failed to appear at multiple court hearings and was never required to explain his absences. We were made to wait 30 minutes for him to show up.
• Baselessly accusing me of attempting to have my son murdered by the NYPD solely because he is biracial, without any supporting evidence.
• Failing to ensure proper service of the custody modification petition and a separate child support petition (no affidavit of service is recorded in the court’s system).
• Accusing me of fabricating the abuse that led to my PTSD diagnosis.
• Instructing my son’s attorney on what to communicate to his client.
• Claiming I was isolating my son from his father, without any attempt to interview my son for over two years to verify or investigate the allegation.
• Denying the father’s history of aggression, despite full knowledge of the physical assaults I had endured.
• Threatening that I would lose all access to my son if I did not voluntarily relinquish custody.
• Stating that my teenage son’s own opinions and experiences did not matter despite being aware that my son did confirm witnessing abuse towards me by his father.
• Rejecting any offers I made for mediation and family therapy.
• Taunting me by smirking at me, laughing at me and constantly yelling at me whenever I tried to speak up or defend myself against his defamatory attacks..

Photo above: Suffolk County Police Department Report – Third-Degree Assault (Long Island, NY).
This incident report, filed with the Suffolk County Police Department, documents an assault in the third degree that I experienced from my son’s father. It supports the abuse claims outlined in my court petitions (e.g., the 2018 filing under Docket # O-30104-18) and aligns with the protections in the existing order of protection throughout the custody case. It highlights the serious nature of the reported incidents that King’s county family court failed to investigate.

Photo above: Excerpt from the court transcript where Austin I. Idehen states that his client is “not” a violent person. However, the order of protection referenced in the proceedings did not require the father to stay away from my son; it required him only to refrain from abusing me. Despite this, the attorney-referee who oversaw the case chose not to investigate the father’s alleged abuse, even though the order of protection remained in effect from 2019 until 2023.

This lack of scrutiny, combined with the documented intimate connection between Idehen and the attorney-referee, raises serious concerns about potential bias influencing the handling of the case.

Photos: Client reviews of Austin I. Idehen from multiple public platforms.
These include several harsh criticisms from former clients, with some describing him as “by far the worst attorney I’ve ever dealt with,” “pathetic excuse for a lawyer”, “you’re a person that should not be practicing law”, “not professional,” “unresponsive,” and failing to communicate or appear in court. 

Photo above: Attempted Filing of Civil Lawsuit Against Austin I. Idehen in New York Supreme Court, 2024. Index 101340/2024.
In 2024, I traveled to New York Supreme Court to file a million-dollar civil lawsuit against Austin I. Idehen, alleging multiple violations of professional conduct, coercion, harrassment, defamation, and the severe harm his actions caused to me and my family. Unfortunately, due to a debilitating illness I was battling at the time, I was unable to complete service of process on him. Despite this, Idehen became aware of the legal action through his colleagues/co-workers.

Photo above: Screenshot of a text message from the father of my son, in which he states that Austin I. Idehen instructed him to file for sole custody.

Meanwhile, the attorney-referee overseeing the case issued an order—without adequate evidentiary support—for the father to transport my son to school in Brooklyn. The father resided approximately 34 miles away from our home, making this directive highly burdensome and causing significant distress to both my son and me.

Photo above: Email from Austin I. Idehen dated March 1, 2023.
In this correspondence, Idehen informed me that sole custody of my son had been granted to his client (the child’s father) by the attorney-referee. This outcome followed years of coercion, discrimination, defamation, harassment, ignored abuse allegations and an active order of protection, raising serious questions about impartiality in the process.

Photo above: First joint custody order granted by Suffolk County Family Court on March 11, 2011 (Docket # V-3903-11).
This order established joint legal and physical custody of my son. It served as the foundational custody arrangement until it was finalized/modified in 2012.

Photo above: Petition filed November 27, 2018 (Docket # O-30104-18, Kings County Family Court).
In this filing, I detailed the ongoing abuse I was enduring from my son’s father and sought enforcement of the existing joint custody order while requesting legal protection. Sadly, despite having an active order of protection throughout the custody proceedings (prohibiting any form of abuse), the attorney-referee overseeing the case completely ignored me and failed to order any investigation regarding any abuse I was subjected to.

(Ongoing report, as the harassment has continued post-case. Part 2 to be published soon.)