The saga of the three children jailed by a judge for refusing to see their allegedly abusive father has taken a strange twist since it played out in a Michigan courtroom in July: the kids now live with their dad after five days of intensive, controversial therapy to make them like him again.

The kids—who are 9, 11, and 14—told judge Lisa Gorcyca in July that they didn’t want to have a relationship with their father, Omer Tsimhoni, claiming he was violent and that they’d seen him hit their mom.

“I do not apologize for—for not talking to him because I have a reason for that, and that’s because he’s violent and he—I saw him hit my mom and I’m not gonna talk to him,” the 15-year-old said at the time.

Gorcyca found the kids’ resistance unreasonable because their dad had “jumped through hoops” to see them and had never been charged with domestic abuse, so she sentenced the kids to a juvenile facility called Children’s Village. (They were later transferred to a summer camp after public backlash against the decision.)

The judge chided their mother, eye surgeon Maya Eibschitz-Tsimhoni, for raising them like “Charlie Manson and the cult he has.”

That seems a little ironic, considering what’s happened since then. According to court records obtained by the Detroit Free Press, the three kids were court-ordered into five days of intensive parental alienation therapy with their father in August. Their mom wasn’t present at the sessions.

They moved in with Tsimhoni, his new wife, and their half-brother on August 13.

The Free Press explains that although records relating to the therapy were sealed, it’s both costly and extremely controversial:

The intensive treatment is rare - only a handful of firms provide it - and expensive, costing as much as $40,000. Proponents say it is a way to end high conflict custody disputes and ensure that children have relationships with both parents. Critics say it doesn’t do enough to protect children from parents who may, indeed, be abusive.

Judge Gorcyca, whose unqualified support for the father in this case has caused a huge public outcry, implied in July that there’s more to the story than the media is aware of.

“There are eight files,” Gorcyca said, “No one has reviewed those files and, as of right now, no one has requested to watch any video. As a result, we have a frenzied, and misinformed, misguided public.”

The case was supposed to go back to court Wednesday, with Tsimhoni asking for the kids’ mom to be kept away from them for 90 days, and also for a break on his $1,700 per month child support, but the Free Press reports the case was adjourned.

[Photo: AP Images]