STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA IN DISTRICT COURT Defendant. COUNTY OF STARK SOUTHWEST JUDICIAL DISTRICT ) =D ) ) DECLARATION OF QS Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 45-2023-DM-00101 ) Luke R. Simons , ) ) ) 1. | QQ sear that | am a resident of the State of North Dakota and a citizen of the United States. 2. I declare that the below statements are true and correct under penalty of perjury. | write this declaration in support of my motion to compel and motion for contempt. 3. Luke R. Simons and | were married at Steele, North Dakota, on September 11, 1999, and ever since such time have been and still remain husband and wife. | was 17 years old (a junior in high school) and Luke was 21 years old. We separated on or about October 16, 2021 4. We have two children that remain in high school namely: SRS, date of birth 2006; LRS, date of birth 2008; and all other children are adults. No other children are expected to be bom of the marriage. 5. That | ama fitand proper person to have primary residential responsibility and sole decision making of the minor children of the parties, and that | am seeking a parenting plan that awards me these responsibilities. | believe the best interests of our children require that such primary residential responsibility and sole decision making be awarded to me with supervised parenting time for Luke. Page 1 of 46. Since our children have been born, | have been responsible for their dally care (feeding, bathing, bedtimes, etc.). | have home-schooled our children and also been their main transportation to and from health care appointments and activities. 7. Throughout our marriage, Luke has a history of assaulting myself and our children. Social service reports exist that document Luke has beat our children with a 2x4, extension cords, and also used a crowbar for spankings. He has run into me with a4 wheeler, attacked me until | was on the floor, punched my nose and broke my glasses and phone. Luke punched the walls of our home and choked me until | passed out. We have been separated following a significant domestic violence incident in October 2021, in which Luke assaulted me and bit one of our daughters. requiring the intervention of Luke's father and our church. See Exhibit 1—pictures of our daughter's hand bitten by Luke. Since our separation, Luke does not have access to our children unsupervised. The children’s time with Luke has been either in family group settings like holidays or church events, in public, or with other third parties readily present. Throughout this time, | have maintained primary residential responsibility and sole decision making for our children. 8. With the assistance of counseling and my support network, | finally got the courage to share the extent of the domestic violence our family had been enduring. Attached to this declaration and incorporated by reference is my story | wrote down about two months after Luke and | separated. Some of my close friends were coming to spend the evening with me, And I decided that for the first time ever, | was going to share more about the abuse that | went through. | think | was finally starting to feel safe, and | was ready to share more details. | have shared this Page 2 of 4history with my counselor, read this to most of my family, some of my close friends, and the church members who intervened when Luke attacked me and our daughters in 2021. it has spelling and grammar errors, but it is an accurate picture of the abuse that I went through, and our children witnessed. See Exhibit 2—My Story. 9. Despite my requests through the Church and more recently via letters from my attomey to Luke's attorney asking that Luke not have any contact with me, he continues to initiate contact with me directly and indirectly. | continue to attend church weekly with our children. Luke places handwritten messages, cards, gifts, food, and other items on my vehicle, or on the church pew where | routinely si. He has had his family send messages to me and our children stating how wrong it is for me to divorce him. See Exhibit 3—Luke Messages. He has also had third parties like his father and other church members contact me with similar belittling, shaming, shunning, and degrading messages. See Exhibit 4—Messages 3 parties. My requests for him to stop such behaviors has been ignored. See Declaration of Attorney Kuntz. 10.That | do not have a high school education and am self-employed as a housekeeper. Luke has been self-employed as a barber in his business, The Gentleman's Barbershop and has various other setf-employment activities. During our marriage, Luke routinely kept his cash tips or as Luke would correct me, “the gifts he received from his clients” as he claimed that gifts do not need to be reported to the IRS. | am unaware what he reported to our accountant who prepared the tax returns. Page 3 of 411.1 am aware that Luke rents the upstairs of the two-story residence he occupies, but has never disclosed that rent in his discovery responses. 12.When we separated, the only debt we had was the loan remaining on our primary marital home. | understand that Luke has referenced in some of his answers to discovery that there are now significant loans against a bobcat we had previously paid off, a loan for the residence he ocoupies, and a loan to his father. Luke, however has not provided any accountings to identify where his cash tips or rental income has gone in addition to these new loans he claims exist since our separation. 13.1 have prepared a property and debt listing to assist the court in determining a fair and equitable distribution, however Luke has not cooperated in identifying assets he has in his possession 14,Shortly after the action was served on Luke, he sold our livestock consisting of three calves and unilaterally rented out our land. | was not consulted. Most recently, | have been notified by our insurance company that Luke dropped the insurance on my van and a vehicle that belongs to our daughter. | have had to make arrangements to cover the insurance for those vehicles by acquiring my own policy. 15.1 declare that the foregoing information is true to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. Dated this day of March, 2024. Page 4 of 4