Emily Cablek has broken her silence about her children’s abduction 9 years ago and hopes her story might help other victims realize they are not alone.
Emily’s children were abducted and taken to Mexico in August 2008 by her former partner Kevin Maryk. She is still reeling from the trauma she suffered when Abby and Dominic were taken away from her.
In 2014, Maryk pleaded guilty to two counts of child abduction and was sentenced to four years in prison for the crimes.
Abby and Dominic were five and seven years old respectively when they were taken while on a court-approved visit with their father. Cablek had legal custody of their children at the time when Maryk failed to return them to their mother.
Speaking to CBC News, Emily, who was reunited with her children 5 years ago said, “It’s definitely been hard — I mean every day is hard still, but I think if I can speak out about it I can help people. We’ve become really close and I wouldn’t change that for anything.”
Emily with Abby and Dominik after their return in 2012. (Picture: cba.ca)
She explains how it hasn’t been an easy adjustment for the family at home, but says that she is happier now than she has been in a very long time. “It’s just the three of us. We’re family and we’re really good with that,” she said.
Emily had a tough upbringing and had her fair share of struggles before she met Kevin. She plans to write a memoir about her life which is due to be released next year.
Her book will include stories about her personal struggles as a teenager and the alleged sexual exploitation by Maryk and she will include the events that led up to Maryk abducting their children for four years in Mexico.
“I didn’t have an easy time growing up, and I went through a lot before I met Kevin, and I have struggled with a lot of different things. When I sit down to write, it is challenging to go through everything again. I would like to help people now. I think that’s my biggest goal right now is to be able to do that,” she says.
Kevin Maryk (Global News)
Emily was just 17 when she moved from Ontario to Winnipeg when she met Kevin originally and claims that she sexually exploited him. She says that although their relationship lasted for years it was “a very scary” time for her.
“When you’re abused your choices become very limited. A lot of the things I went through weren’t choices I made,” she explains.
In May 2016 whilst Maryk was serving time for the abduction of his children, he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting Cablek between January 2002 and May 2006, before abducting his children. He was sentenced to four years for sexual assault but given credit of two years for time already served.
Emily Cablek said she started to write a blog to let other victims of domestic violence know they are not alone.
“I think women are cast down for any kind of wrongdoing in their life, whether it’s a choice they made or whether that choice was made for them. And it’s hard to get help when you feel like you don’t deserve it, and when you feel like nobody really wants to help you anyway,” she said.
Emily speaking after Kevin Maryk’s sentencing (Picture: Winnipeg Free Press)
Maryk is eligible for early release from prison in January, and Cablek says she’s not sure she will ever get justice; however, she just wants to look to the future now.
Her children who are now 15 and 16 years old are doing very well but admits it took them some time to adjust, understandably.
“I don’t want to live in fear now. But I hope that by helping others I can at least feel like everything has been worth it, what I went through. And I don’t want him to ever be part of my life again,” she said.