A California dermatologist accused of poisoning her husband with Drano liquid lost custody of her two children after she was accused of abusing them and telling them to lie in court.
A judge ruled that Dr. Yue ‘Emily’ Yu could no longer have temporary physical custody of her two children after her 11-year-old daughter told school officials she feared her mother “would try to kill her like she tried to kill her father”. ‘
The girl also told a school therapist that her mother sometimes “hit” her with the leg of a small chair, while her maternal grandmother also allegedly chased her and her younger brother and hit them.
A judge sided with Dr. Jack Chen, Yu’s ex-husband, and approved his request to limit the children’s interaction with their mother to virtual calls, since she would also allegedly coach her children to lie on the phone. court.
Dr. Yue ‘Emily’ Yu could face at least eight years behind bars for allegedly poisoning her husband, Dr. Jack Chen
“(The daughter) seemed distraught and tearful as she explained that she felt conflicted about lying because if she didn’t, she would ‘make her mother angry,'” the school therapist wrote in a statement obtained by DailyMail.com.
‘I asked (the daughter) why she was so afraid of making her mother angry. (She) responded: ‘Because what happens if she does to me what she did to my dad?’
Yu, 45, was accused of claiming she tried to poison her husband’s tea with liquid Drano in 2022.
Chen, a radiologist, said he noticed a strange taste in the tea he drank daily.
He told police he had been feeling unwell for about a month when he decided to install a secret camera in the kitchen of his $2.7 million home in Irvine, California.
At least three times in July 2022, the dermatologist was caught on nanny cam allegedly adding the chemical solution normally used to unclog drains to Chen’s drink.
Yu has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of poisoning and one felony count of domestic assault causing bodily injury.
She insists that she is innocent and that she was mixing Drano and sugar into a liquid in an attempt to combat an ant problem in the home.
Still photos from a video captured Jack Chen drinking from the cup that supposedly contained Drano.
Yu allegedly used Drano to add flavor to her husband’s tea, but she claims she was using the chemical to poison ants in the kitchen.
Chen filed for divorce shortly after his wife was arrested in August 2022.
The dermatologist was free on $30,000 bail when she was charged on April 5, 2023.
A judge had approved a temporary restraining order against Yu, but she had supervised the visits every week.
Yu recently lost that privilege after her daughter revealed to a school therapist that her mother would allegedly pressure her to lie about poisoning her father.
“Her mother uses her phone to write lines for (the daughter) to say about the Drano that was used in the house,” the school therapist wrote in a statement.
‘(The daughter) said that Mom asked her: ‘And why did we have Drano in the house simmering?’ and she was expected to say, ‘Because we had ants and Dad didn’t buy traps.’
When the school therapist asked her if she was afraid her mother would kill her, the 11-year-old girl responded, “Yes.”
The couple lived in a $2.7 million two-story home in Irvine, California.
Yu denied accusations that he had tried to force his children to lie and that he had abused them.
“The allegations of abuse have caused serious negative repercussions on the defendant’s life, including the loss of custody of her children, expulsion from her home, loss of health insurance, and paid administrative suspension from her medical group,” he wrote. Dworakowski in an affidavit.
“He faces the potential loss of his medical license and ability to earn income in the medical field again, not to mention the loss of his freedom.”
If convicted of the criminal charges, Yu could spend at least eight years in state prison, prosecutors said.
“Our homes should be where we feel safest,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said of the case.
“However, a licensed medical professional took advantage of her husband’s daily rituals to torment him, systematically sprinkling his tea with a Drano-like substance with the intent of causing him pain and suffering.”
As a condition of his $30,000 bail, a judge ordered Yu to hire an outside escort while treating patients.
He is also not allowed to open or operate a solo practice, according to a May 2023 court document obtained by DailyMail.com.
Yu, a physician and surgeon licensed in California, has until April 30 to renew her medical certifications.
Yu attended medical school at Washington University in St. Louis and became a board-certified dermatologist in California in 2010.
He became certified in dermatological micrographic surgery in 2021.
While awaiting her next hearing in her criminal case, Yu filed a request for an emergency order to depose her ex-husband regarding their divorce.
The dermatologist said she has been struggling since her arrest and was placed on paid administrative leave by her medical group in Mission Viejo, California.
Dr. Jack Chen said his ex-wife continues to harass him over their divorce case.
In court papers, Yu said Chen is avoiding his deposition, which his lawyer says is necessary to gather financial and other information they need to move forward with the divorce process.
Dworakowski said he plans to ask only Chen about her domestic abuse allegations and will limit the questioning to no more than three hours.
The lawyer added that Yu will not be present while Chen is questioned.
“Considering what is at stake and the circumstances, the wife has a due process right to obtain information during discovery that can be used to confront the petitioner’s allegations,” Dworakowski said. “This information will also be vital in assessing the husband’s credibility at the (domestic violence restraining order) hearing.”
Chen, however, criticized his wife’s claims and said she is using the court to harass him.
‘Not only is he trying to take my statement, no doubt to use it in his defense of the criminal proceedings for domestic violence and poisoning, but he is also trying to invade my family’s privacy by searching their bank records even though I revealed the existence of my separate property interests that are also protected by our prenuptial agreement and separate property agreement,” Chen said in a sworn statement.
Both exes will face each other in court this month in their divorce proceedings, while Yu is expected to appear in Orange County criminal court in May.