If you and the other parent of your child have a dispute about the visitation or custody rights you share, the normal way to handle this issue is to talk to your attorney and to discuss changes or how you can have a court intervene. What’s not acceptable is simply fleeing with your child; doing so constitutes parental kidnapping, and it can result in serious damage to your relationships.
Unfortunately, some parents choose to flee with their children when they don’t agree with visitation rulings. When that happens, it’s more likely that the parent will be seen as an unfit parent and be in trouble with the law. One of the only ways these parents can flee is with help from others, like in this case.
A man involved in a same-sex custody case has been sent to prison due to his part in a child kidnapping involving the child of two women. According to the story, the pastor helped a Virginia woman flee the county because she didn’t want to share custody of her daughter with her former partner due to believing that homosexuality was wrong. The pastor is meant to go to prison on March 22 and will serve 27 months for helping the woman flee with her child across international lines.
The case focuses on the fact that the Virginia woman had been looking for a home in Central America; the pastor aided the woman in finding a flight for herself and her daughter. The pair disappeared in 2009, even though the woman’s partner, based in Vermont, had legal visitation with their daughter.
Source: ABC News, “Man in Same-Sex Custody Case Ordered to Prison,” Wilson Ring, Feb. 02, 2016
