Even though a father used all proper channels when he moved his daughter from Missouri to Iowa, he is still not being awarded full custody.
The child custody case goes back to November when the 24-year-old father was contacted by the mother of his 2-year-old and told to come pick up his daughter and that the little girl could live with him. At the time that he picked up the girl, he was even provided with a note from the mother of the child that stated that she was voluntarily having the 2-year-old live with the father.
According to the 24-year-old, picking up his daughter was just the first step in his family getting back together, and that plans were made for the child’s mother to also move in with him in the future.
But, the mother of the child feared repercussion from her own family if she moved in with the 24-year-old, so she concocted a story that she had given the 2-year-old to a woman who said she was from the Division of Family Services. At this point – with her family believing the child had actually been kidnapped – an Amber Alert was sent out for the child.
Upon hearing of the Amber Alert the father immediately turned himself into the Iowa State Patrol, explaining what had really happened. Since then the mother of the child has also even admitted to making up the lie and has since pleaded guilty to filing a false report. For the crime she served eight days in a county jail, and will be on supervised probation for the next two years.
However, even though the 24-year-old father was never charged with anything – and there is photographic evidence of his 2-year-old daughter with a lit cigarette in her mouth that was taken while living with her mother – the father is still having a hard time getting custody of his daughter and is only allowed supervised visitation time with her.
A court hearing has been scheduled for March 8, and at that time the father hopes to get custody of his daughter.
Source: WDAF, “Falsely-Accused Man Says State Keeping Daughter From Him,” John Pepitone, 15 Feb 2011
