The mother of a 2-year-old girl was sent to Oneida County Jail in New York after refusing to tell a judge where her daughter was or who was caring for her. She was taken into custody after violating a family court act that prevented her from taking the child outside of Arizona. The woman was not allowed to do so because the girl’s father has custody of the child.
According to reports, the woman would not say where her daughter was because she claims that the child’s father has abused the 2-year-old. The child’s grandmother says that the child was acting abnormally after a previous visit with her father and had bruises on her body. However, police say that the bruising is consistent with the father’s claims that they occurred due to riding in a vehicle with a five-point safety harness.
When asked why the woman couldn’t simply let the case work through the court system, the woman’s mother claimed that she had lost faith in the system, noting that there were allegedly 2,500 cases mishandled by Arizona Child Protective Services in the past year. Although the woman would not say where her child was, she assured everyone that the child was safe.
When a child custody order is in place, both parents must abide by that order at all times. While an order may be modified, parents cannot break a current order until a judge approves a modified order or the other parent refuses to take action. Parents who are facing potential jail time or other penalties after defying a court order may wish to speak to a family law attorney. An attorney may be able to work out a solution that all sides can agree on.
Source: WKTV, “Mother still refuses to disclose Arizona toddler’s whereabouts”, Joleen Ferris, August 08, 2014
