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can i stop visitation based on dads child molestation charge against another child

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gaguy

Guest
What is the name of your state? I live in GA and Father lives in FL and this is the state we have been served from concerning visitation

The father of my child sexual molested another child and turned himself in to the police. The mother of the child had been sexually abused at one time I understand and was very scared and ended up dropping the charges. Since he had turned himself in and admitted to it he ended up going to court and he was sentenced and I am unsure as to what the sentence was beyond court ordered counseling.

We did not no about the crime until a friend of both my family and his family was concerned about the welfare of my son. I was able to obtain a copy of the police report and spoke with the arresting officer.

I then implemented supervised visitation on the spot. I was able to this due to the fact that he was proven the father thru the courts in GA and child support was put in place but there were no visitation rights stipulated or enforced by a court and I have sole custody of my son.

The father did not like supervised visits at all and we spoke with one of the pastors at my church where the father admited to the abuse of another child. The pastor told him he had to earn my trust back and it could take a very long time. Well after that meeting he didn't do much about it but complain.

A year and half go by with maybe 12 visits of a day and he is really putting pressure on me. Well I agreed my son could ride in his car and go thru a drive thru for some lunch on the way home from church. He showed up three hours later without calling. The very next visit to my home he almost struck me and was very abusive verbally concerning the supervision he was undergoing. My husband almost had to become physical with him to get him out of our home.

He is now sueing me from the state of FL and wanting unsupervised visits with a schedule of every other weekend, summer months and alternating holidays. Also stating he wants me to travel 1/2 the distance to FL to meet him for these visits.

Is there any way to stop him totally or keep the supervised visitation and goveren who watches my son if I am forced to send him to FL for visits.

From everything I have been reading it says that it is very hard to get supervised visitation.

Please help me I have to respond to the FL courts.
 
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kidoday

Senior Member
Sueing you for what? Unsupervised visitation? Change in visitation set forth in the GA courts?

I know I will get corrected on this one, but any changes must come from the court that the original order is thru.

I understand your worries with him molesting another child. SB should be hung, but enough of my opinion, but how old is your child? Is your child aware of what Dad did? If so, have you explained to your child to be cautious with Dad?
 
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gaguy

Guest
I did not no this on what state the suit had to come from. (FL vs. GA)

I have never told my son what his father has done due to the fact he wouldn't understand. He just turned 10.

I have on the other hand had the many talks with concerning good touch bad touch and anybody could do this to him even someone from his own family like his dad.

He is sueing for court appointed visitation rights that specifed the visits were to be unsupervised and I was to travel 1/2 the distance for these visitations.

When you say "original order was thru" are you refering to a visitation schedule? There has never been a visitation schedule mandated by any court. The only thing done in court was when I was forced to get him to submit to a blood test to prove he was the father and set-up child support.
 

Whyte Noise

Senior Member
gaguy... dont go anywhere yet. I'm looking up some things to make sure of what I tell you before I open my mouth and stick my foot in it. I just have two questions.... when was the Paternity test and the CS order done? And how long has your son lived in Georgia? I'm from Georgia myself, and my divorce was thru Georgia courts, so I've become kinda learned on the Georgia statutes. I'm just looking for what I need, to make sure that what I'm wanting to tell you is correct....
 

Whyte Noise

Senior Member
OK.... first off, if your son has resided in Georgia for the last 6 months, then Georgia is his home state. Any filings to do with custody (and visitation is considered covered under custody issues in Georgia) has to be filed in the child's home state. In other words, your son's father couldn't file for visitation through Florida, because Florida isn't the child's home state. Georgia would have jurisdiction.

O.C.G.A 19-9-61.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in Code Section 19-9-64, a court of
this state has jurisdiction to make an initial child custody
determination only if:

(1) This state is the home state of the child on the date of the
commencement of the proceeding, or was the home state of the child
within six months before the commencement of the proceeding and
the child is absent from this state but a parent or person acting
as a parent continues to live in this state;

(2) A court of another state does not have jurisdiction under
paragraph (1) of this subsection, or a court of the home state of
the child has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that
this state is the more appropriate forum under Code Section
19-9-67 or 19-9-68 and:

(A) The child and the child's parents, or the child and at least
one parent or a person acting as a parent, have a significant
connection with this state other than mere physical presence;
and

(B) Substantial evidence is available in this state concerning
the child's care, protection, training, and personal
relationships;

Now, since there were never any prior court orders that covered custody or visitation, the filing for visitation would be considered an initial custody determination. Under Georgia law, when a child is born out of wedlock the mother is the presumed custodian, until a court order establiches otherwise. His paternity has already been established by the courts, so the first part of this paragraph does pertain to your situation.

O.C.G.A 19-7-22

g) Upon the determination
of paternity or if a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity has been
made and has not been rescinded pursuant to Code Section 19-7-46.1,
the court or trier of fact as a matter of law and pursuant to the
provisions of Code Section 19-7-51 may enter an order or decree
legitimating a child born out of wedlock, provided that such is in
the best interest of the child. Issues of name change, visitation,
and custody shall not be determined by the court until such time as
a separate petition is filed by one of the parents or by the legal
guardian of the child. Custody of the child shall remain in the
mother until a court order is entered addressing the issue of
custody.

Now, what you need to do is to get custody of your son done through the court system. File the petition to establish custody for yourself. Even though you have paternity and CS established, no one has brought up the custody issue in court. Now, your son's father is going to by filing for visitation. Even though there is a presumption under the law that the mother retains custody in unmarried parent situations, having the courts on your side is the best thing to do. You can go to the courthouse and file the papers on your own if you have to. However, because of the father's history, an attorney would be the better route to go. What you'll need to do is take the court records you have for his child molestation conviction in Florida and present them as the reason that you want supervised visitation. I've found statutes that cover family domestic violence and supervised visits, but nothing specifically for child molestation issues. But, I'd think that a judge would grant supervised with proof of conviction. If I can be of any help, let me know.
 
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gaguy

Guest
Ok so its presumed I have custody but it has not been attested to by a judge.

My son has always lived in the state of GA. and his child support and paternity was established in a GA court.

So you are saying it could possibly be benificial if I went and had custody established in GA courts as soon as possible.

First will the father be informed by the GA courts or am I responsible by law to inform him I am asking for appointed custody not just presumed custody?

Secondly I only have his police report of when he turned himself in to the police. I do not have any paper work or proof showing he was convicted or sentenced for sexual molestation of a child. I beleive I could possibly come up with witness of him stating admitted guilt. I do know the childs mother but she has remained guarded and still lives in the state of FL but at an unknown address.

I also looked under the FL database for sex offenders (there was not that many people listed for the whole state of FL so I think only a fraction are really listed) and could not locate him in the database.

Will my police report which states the father turned himself in and admitted guilt be enough proof for a judge?

I too have found a lot information on these subjects but it all had to do with a parent doing these things to his/her own child not to a child outside his/her family. I would assume it would still apply in my case but I am not a lawyer.
 

Whyte Noise

Senior Member
When you file the custody papers, the court will notify him. That's there job, not yours. Yes, it would be beneficial to have custody legally established through the courts, with his visitation rights, or lack of, specifically outlined in the orders. If he went to court on the charges, and was ordered placed on probation, there there should be a listing of him somwhere. Grace and I have been searching databases all night, and you'd be suprised what you can find out about a person if you just dig deep enough. Try this link here..

http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/sexual_predators/search.asp? You'll have to copy and paste it into your browser. The police report is a start. Perhaps you might try calling the Florida County where he went to court, and see about getting a copy of what happened in court. But, I agree with you. I think that the other statutes would apply in your case as well, since the well-being of a child is concerned. If that link doesn't help you out any, post back here, and I'll see what else I can come up with.
 
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gaguy

Guest
That is the database I refered to in my last post and came up with nothing.

Since the mother did not press the charges (It was not due to lack of proof he turned himself in and the child was 7 or 8 when it happened and told the mother what happened I beleive she was scared as to what would happen to her child in the end) the extent of his court sentence I have know idea. This is what concerns me the most. If the mother had just press charges I would not have this problem right now.

I just edited this post due to the fact after I submitted it I remember he was unable to come and visit his son due to some sort of probation.

I had wondered why for a long period of time as to why he hadnt come to visit his son and later was told he was not allowed to travel outside the state of FL due to this probation and the time lines matched with his absense of visits.

I also wonder if he has informed his lawyer of his past on these issues. If he has and the lawyer still filed for him it is only one of two issues. The lawyer is just taking his money or the lawyer feels it is not an issue. Also if he told the lawyer a lie or only half the truth (this would be not be unexpected since he is still not telling the truth about it today to his girl friends and others) would the lawyer investigate any of his statements information.

I would say yes if it was a good lawyer but if he is to file by law in GA and the lawyer filed in FL it would lead me to say he is not very good or just do the least he can.

I am still scared wittless about the whole situation and I'm the good parent.

I did speak with the person who counseled him (the person was member of a church and I beleive it was a church program he went thru) and I beleive this was part of or accepted by the court. I can contact this person but I am unsure as to how much help I will receive from them and it has been a while since I spoke with him.
 
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Whyte Noise

Senior Member
A lawyer is only as good as the information you give him. If the guy is holding out something, and not telling the lawyer everything, then he's only hurting himself. No, I don't think the attorney would go and check everything out. They just don't work like that.

If he was on probation, the county probation office would have records of that, as would the court that sentanced him to the probation. If it was in fact for child molestation, then that would be something that you need to have to take in front of the judge for the custody hearing. You might try this link and see if you have any better luck finding out about the molestation charge...

http://www.dc.state.fl.us/appcommon/searchall.asp
 

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