Posts tagged "child abduction"

We are currently discussing a United States Supreme Court case that could have far-reaching effects on international child custody cases involving military parents. As we discussed in the last post, the case involves a military father, a Scottish mother and their 5-year-old daughter.

The daughter primarily lived with the mother in Scotland since her birth; however, when the parents divorced, a trial court in the United States awarded the father custody of the daughter. The mother appealed the trial court's decision and won. The appellate court ordered the girl to be sent back to Scotland with her mother.

In some family law cases, parents may feel that their hands are tied when it comes to obtaining custody of their children. This is especially true in child custody cases that cross international borders. In fact, many times the courts themselves feel that there is little they can do to get a child in another country returned to the United States.

To help ease the turmoil in these international child custody cases, many countries throughout the world agreed to follow the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Essentially, this treaty provides quick means of returning a child who was internationally abducted from one member nation to another.

We are currently discussing the heartbreaking story of a former sergeant of the United States Marine Corps and Bergen County, New Jersey, native who had his two young children taken away from him in direct violation of a court-issued child custody order.

Ultimately, the man's ex-wife abducted their 4 and 2-year-old to her native Japan in 2008. Since then, he has been trying desperately to get the children back, and even another court order granting him sole custody and demanding their return has not helped.

Almost three years ago, a former sergeant of the United States Marine Corps and Bergen County, New Jersey, native had his two young children taken away from him in direct violation of a child custody order. Since then, he has done everything in his power to get them back, including reaching out to local congressmen and testifying in Washington, but to no avail.

It all started when the former soldier returned to New Jersey after being deployed in Iraq. His marriage with his wife, who is originally from Japan, fell apart and they soon split up. Because he wanted to put the needs of their 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter first, he allowed his ex-wife to stay in the apartment they shared in his parent's home.

A parent's worst nightmare is the kidnapping of a toddler -- especially when another young child has recently been abducted from the neighborhood and was found dismembered just days before your own child goes missing.

That nightmare became vividly real for one Brooklyn mother on Wednesday, July 15, when her three-year-old child's biological father assaulted her, took their son and left. The woman dialed 911 and an Amber Alert was quickly issued. She had a valid child custody order, and his father had not seen the boy for two years.