Brevard County mother fights to get children out of Lebanon

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Brevard County mother told Channel 9 that she is in the fight of her life to bring her three children back to the United States from Lebanon.

Michelle Littleton said it’s been a year since her ex-husband, Mazen Fawzi Matar, took the children.

“Someone needs to step in and bring my kids home now,” Littleton said. “It started with my kids telling me, ‘Daddy is taking us to Lebanon and we're never coming back,’ and my son would cry. And I would hold them and cry and say, ‘We have to do something about this.’”

Littleton went to a judge in California where she lived at the time, and told the judge what was happening. Littleton said the judge did nothing to prevent Yousef Matar, 6, Leilah Matar, 13, and Ascila Matar, 14, from leaving the country.

When Littleton attempted to defy the judge’s order to let them go, she temporarily lost her custody rights.

When the children didn’t return from Lebanon, she went back to the judge in California.

"He ordered the FBI to get involved. Now there's a federal warrant for international parental childhood abduction," Littleton told Channel 9's Melonie Holt.

Littleton has an attorney in Lebanon trying to help her get her children back.

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Next week, Littleton has plans to travel to Washington, D.C., where she hopes to meet with Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, and Rep. Bill Posey.

“I just envision my children coming home.  They need me. I need to be strong and although they don't understand what's going on, one day they'll understand, and I want to be there for them. I go to work, I work hard every day and I try to stay positive,” Littleton said.

Nelson’s office has contacted the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, asking that she, the embassy and the Department of State provide assistance to Littleton and other families like hers.

Cox Media Group