justeric1agn
11-11-2010, 04:29 AM
Embattled Ohio Father Reunited with Son Illegally Taken in Adoption Battle
After three years of legal battles, Ohio father Benjamin Wyrembek has finally been reunited with the little son who was wrongfully taken from him. In Ohio high court right to unite father, son (Toledo Blade, 10/24/10), Fathers and Families Board Member Robert Franklin, Esq. recently explained:
This month, the Ohio Supreme Court finally cleared the way for Benjamin Wyrembek of Swanton to be united with his biological son, who will turn three years old this week. That should have happened long before now.
But for almost three years, attorneys for an adoptive couple in Indiana who have raised the child since birth have kept the case tied up in court, separating father and son.
In the vast majority of cases, adoption is a fine and noble act. But Mr. Wyrembek’s son has never needed adoption. He had a capable, loving father who wanted to care for him.
And from the very first, that fact was public knowledge. Within 30 days of the boy’s birth to a former girlfriend, Mr. Wyrembek registered with the Ohio Putative Father Registry. Then he filed suit to get custody of his son.
At any time since then, the couple that sought to adopt the boy could have done the obvious, fair, and kind thing: hand Benjamin Wyrembek his son and seek another child to adopt. Instead, they chose litigation.
In every court, Benjamin Wyrembek prevailed, because he is the child’s rightful father. And every time he did, opposing attorneys filed more motions and appeals.
Now the Blade reports :
The 3-year-old boy [Grayson] who has been at the center of a custody dispute was returned to his biological father in Swanton on Saturday by an Indiana couple who had raised the child from birth and had sought to adopt him. Jason and Christy Vaughn were ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court to deliver Grayson to Benjamin Wyrembek.
Fathers and Families has always been mindful of the fact that until this transfer, the Vaughns were the only parents that Grayson knew. However, the Vaughns created this circumstance and prolonged it through endless legal appeals, in effect using the concomitant delays as a strategy to deny Benjamin Wyrembek custody.
Unfortunately, the Vaughns now say, “For us, the fight isn’t over,” and have filed a new adoption case which will be heard December 1. Fathers and Families believes that the following is in the best interests of little Grayson:
The Vaughns should drop the suit, accept that Benjamin Wyrembek is Grayson’s father and custodial parent, and support their relationship.
Assuming that this happens, we urge Benjamin Wyrembek to offer the Vaughns a liberal visitation schedule under which Grayson can maintain his relationship with them, hopefully throughout his childhood and adult life.
Facebook Postings by Mom Lead to Custody for Dad, but Was It Fair?
This article and video raise some issues about the decision-making process of family courts (The33TV, 10/22/10).
It’s all about a child custody case in the Dallas area. It seems that the mother and father were duking it out in family court over who was better suited to be the primary custodial parent of their five-year-old son. Ultimately, the dad prevailed, but the way he did it is what raises the issues.
It seems that Facebook is what did the job. Specifically, his ex was a bit too free with her Facebook postings. According to the story, the father's attorney Michael Wysocki "says pictures posted to the site painted a picture of a partying mother, with wild friends. He says the mother was seen in a bikini, with another woman pretending to lick her breast. He says the woman's boyfriend posted pictures smoking and brandishing a semi-automatic rifle. The woman's friend, who testified on her behalf posted a picture kissing another woman."
As Joseph Conrad wrote, “The horror!”
Let’s see, the fact that Mom was photographed wearing a bikini was used to prove her parental unfitness. Do I have that right? Apparently I do. So was the fact that she posted a photo of two women kissing and another of a woman pretending to lick Mom’s bikini-clad breast. And, if we can believe the article, so was a photo of her holding a lighted cigarette.
I’m not making that up. Of course, all of that is (a) perfectly legal and, with the possible exception of smoking, (b) perfectly safe. And yet we’re asked to believe that it’s reasonable to hold that behavior against the mother in deciding custody.
Now, I must admit that other factors enter the picture. For example, another photo showed Mom’s new boyfriend posing with a semi-automatic rifle. Of course that too is perfectly legal in Texas.
But what all that led to was the judge ordering Mom to be tested for drugs, which turned up positive. The article doesn’t say what drug was found, and I’d call that important. To me, prescription medication or even pot would be one thing; heroin or cocaine would be another.
Still, using illegal drugs certainly qualifies as a legitimate factor in considering custody, so eventually the right decision may have been made. But the process by which the mother lost custody is disturbing...Read the rest of Robert Franklin's post.
After three years of legal battles, Ohio father Benjamin Wyrembek has finally been reunited with the little son who was wrongfully taken from him. In Ohio high court right to unite father, son (Toledo Blade, 10/24/10), Fathers and Families Board Member Robert Franklin, Esq. recently explained:
This month, the Ohio Supreme Court finally cleared the way for Benjamin Wyrembek of Swanton to be united with his biological son, who will turn three years old this week. That should have happened long before now.
But for almost three years, attorneys for an adoptive couple in Indiana who have raised the child since birth have kept the case tied up in court, separating father and son.
In the vast majority of cases, adoption is a fine and noble act. But Mr. Wyrembek’s son has never needed adoption. He had a capable, loving father who wanted to care for him.
And from the very first, that fact was public knowledge. Within 30 days of the boy’s birth to a former girlfriend, Mr. Wyrembek registered with the Ohio Putative Father Registry. Then he filed suit to get custody of his son.
At any time since then, the couple that sought to adopt the boy could have done the obvious, fair, and kind thing: hand Benjamin Wyrembek his son and seek another child to adopt. Instead, they chose litigation.
In every court, Benjamin Wyrembek prevailed, because he is the child’s rightful father. And every time he did, opposing attorneys filed more motions and appeals.
Now the Blade reports :
The 3-year-old boy [Grayson] who has been at the center of a custody dispute was returned to his biological father in Swanton on Saturday by an Indiana couple who had raised the child from birth and had sought to adopt him. Jason and Christy Vaughn were ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court to deliver Grayson to Benjamin Wyrembek.
Fathers and Families has always been mindful of the fact that until this transfer, the Vaughns were the only parents that Grayson knew. However, the Vaughns created this circumstance and prolonged it through endless legal appeals, in effect using the concomitant delays as a strategy to deny Benjamin Wyrembek custody.
Unfortunately, the Vaughns now say, “For us, the fight isn’t over,” and have filed a new adoption case which will be heard December 1. Fathers and Families believes that the following is in the best interests of little Grayson:
The Vaughns should drop the suit, accept that Benjamin Wyrembek is Grayson’s father and custodial parent, and support their relationship.
Assuming that this happens, we urge Benjamin Wyrembek to offer the Vaughns a liberal visitation schedule under which Grayson can maintain his relationship with them, hopefully throughout his childhood and adult life.
Facebook Postings by Mom Lead to Custody for Dad, but Was It Fair?
This article and video raise some issues about the decision-making process of family courts (The33TV, 10/22/10).
It’s all about a child custody case in the Dallas area. It seems that the mother and father were duking it out in family court over who was better suited to be the primary custodial parent of their five-year-old son. Ultimately, the dad prevailed, but the way he did it is what raises the issues.
It seems that Facebook is what did the job. Specifically, his ex was a bit too free with her Facebook postings. According to the story, the father's attorney Michael Wysocki "says pictures posted to the site painted a picture of a partying mother, with wild friends. He says the mother was seen in a bikini, with another woman pretending to lick her breast. He says the woman's boyfriend posted pictures smoking and brandishing a semi-automatic rifle. The woman's friend, who testified on her behalf posted a picture kissing another woman."
As Joseph Conrad wrote, “The horror!”
Let’s see, the fact that Mom was photographed wearing a bikini was used to prove her parental unfitness. Do I have that right? Apparently I do. So was the fact that she posted a photo of two women kissing and another of a woman pretending to lick Mom’s bikini-clad breast. And, if we can believe the article, so was a photo of her holding a lighted cigarette.
I’m not making that up. Of course, all of that is (a) perfectly legal and, with the possible exception of smoking, (b) perfectly safe. And yet we’re asked to believe that it’s reasonable to hold that behavior against the mother in deciding custody.
Now, I must admit that other factors enter the picture. For example, another photo showed Mom’s new boyfriend posing with a semi-automatic rifle. Of course that too is perfectly legal in Texas.
But what all that led to was the judge ordering Mom to be tested for drugs, which turned up positive. The article doesn’t say what drug was found, and I’d call that important. To me, prescription medication or even pot would be one thing; heroin or cocaine would be another.
Still, using illegal drugs certainly qualifies as a legitimate factor in considering custody, so eventually the right decision may have been made. But the process by which the mother lost custody is disturbing...Read the rest of Robert Franklin's post.