Click Headline for Full Story

January 2010

International Child Abduction a Growing Problem

In many cases, parents abduct their own children when marriages fail and return home where local laws protect them. In some cases the abducted children never see the other parent again.

MacKenzie Babb, Voice of America 

01-21-10 -- Child abduction is one of a parent's worst fears, and for a growing number of parents around the world, this fear is being realized and compounded by international custody disputes.  In many cases, parents abduct their own children when marriages fail and return home where local laws protect them. In some cases the abducted children never see the other parent again.  . . . On July 13, 2003, U.S. Navy Commander Paul Toland returned home to discover his wife had moved out and taken their 9-month-old daughter Erika with her. . . . At the time, Toland was stationed at a U.S. naval base in Yokohama, Japan.  His wife Etsuko, a native of Japan who had become a U.S. citizen during their marriage, took Erika and their belongings from the family's home in Negishi Navy family housing to Tokyo and told her husband she wanted a divorce.  To settle the matter, Toland says they went to a Japanese court.

December 2009

NEW JERSEY

An emotional homecoming for Goldman and his son

Maryann Spoto, Star-Ledger Staff

12-30-09 -- "Our home." . . . Those two words from his 9-year-old son made a five-year, politically charged, multi-continent custody battle all worth it for David Goldman of Tinton Falls. . . . Returning to the Monmouth County home with his son Monday night after a much-publicized, international custody struggle, Goldman finally heard the words he longed to hear when his son, Sean, asked where they lived. . . . Goldman, 42, said he was overwhelmed. . . . ""Just to hear him say "our home,' '' Goldman said yesterday, his voice cracking and his eyes filling with tears. ""I waited five years to hear that.'' . . . With the safe return of his son, Goldman also said yesterday he would work with U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) to get legislation passed that would help other parents in his situation. . . . ""My assistance is offered to Congressman Smith, however possible,'' Goldman said at a news conference in his attorney's Red Bank office. ""He is a hero. He didn't have to give up his Christmas. He missed his Christmas.''

TEXAS

U.S. Justice Department certifies child-abduction team

By A. Lee Graham, Keller Citizen

12-30-09 -- When it comes to child abduction response, nowhere in Texas is law enforcement more prepared than in Northeast Tarrant County. . . . That’s according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which recently awarded a national certification to the Northeast Tarrant and Denton County Child Abduction Response Team (CART). . . . Only six teams nationwide hold that credential, with no others in Texas touting the distinction. . . . "It’s pretty rigorous," said Haltom City Police Chief Keith Lane, a former Keller lieutenant who co-founded the team with Colleyville Police Chief Tommy Ingram. . . . That rigorous training came after Lane, Ingram and other area police chiefs learned about a national program dedicated to training officers in locating children who are abducted or reported missing.

Houston Dad Looking To Get Daughter Back From Brazil

FoxNews   

12-30-09 -- After seeing what one New Jersey man did to get his son back from Brazil, a Texas father is looking to do the same. . . . Marty Pate says his ex-wife defied a custody agreement and returned to her native country of Brazil with the couple's 8-year-old daughter, Nicole, MyFoxHouston.com reports. . . . "Here we are three and a half years later, and still no daughter," Pate told MyFoxHouston.com, but in his renewed efforts, Pate is hopeful he'll have his daughter back in Texas by summer. . . . The case contains shades of the high-profile case of David Goldman, who recently won a five-year battle to get his son Sean back. Sean's mother had taken him to her native Brazil, where she later died, leaving Sean in the care of family there. Brazil's Supreme Court recently ruled that Sean should be returned to his father.

NEW JERSEY

Back From Brazil, Seeking an Ordinary Life for a Son

By Karen DeMasters, NY Times

12-29-09 -- David Goldman’s holiday wish for his son is a simple one: that he be allowed to be just another New Jersey 9-year-old. . . . Mr. Goldman appeared at his lawyer’s office here on Tuesday for his first news conference since he and his son, Sean, returned five days earlier from Brazil, where Mr. Goldman won an international custody battle for the boy. . . . At times choking back tears, Mr. Goldman said his son had moved back with him into the house in nearby Tinton Falls where he lived before he was taken to Brazil by his mother, Bruna Bianchi, who died in childbirth last year. . . . The five-year legal battle, Mr. Goldman said, has left his son afraid of cameras and fearful of being left alone. Still, the father said he had been amazed at how seamless Sean’s transition to living in the United States had been so far. The boy speaks English, as he did during the first four years of his life, and he attended an English-language school for two years in Brazil. . . . “He may have an ‘old soul’ because of what he has been through, but mostly he is just a kid and wants to live in the now and have fun,” Mr. Goldman said. “He is playing with his cousins right now. He wants to go fishing, although I keep telling him how cold it is outside.”

The Prompt Recovery of a Child Under the Hague Convention Failed in Brazil

PRNewswire

12-28-09 -- When David Goldman applied for the return of his son from Brazil under the Hague Convention for Abducted Children he surely could not have imagined the five-year ordeal that would unfold. On December 23, 2009, two days before Christmas, a federal court in Rio ordered the stepfamily to return Sean Goldman to his father by 9:00 a.m. The stepfamily says that they will no longer fight and it looks like Sean Goldman will finally be returned to his only living parent. . . . The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction provides for the prompt return of children. Under article 11, if a court decision is not made within six weeks, the court can be required to explain the delay. In the case of Sean Goldman, the mother flew to Brazil in 2004 for what was to be a two-week vacation. She then announced to father, David Goldman, that she would be getting a divorce and would not be returning. In a strange twist, the mother died in childbirth and Sean Goldman was left in the care of his stepfather, who refused to return custody to David Goldman. According to court records, David Goldman filed his application for the return of his son within 50 days of being informed that he would not return. The courts in Brazil did not finally determine the matter until five years later.

Boy Is Reunited With American Father in Brazil

By Mery Galanternick &  Jack Healy, NY Times

12-24-09 -- Sean Goldman, a 9-year-old at the center of an international custody dispute, was reunited with his American father Thursday morning in Rio de Janeiro, ending a protracted family fight that spilled over into diplomatic relations between the United States and Brazil. . . . But the bitterness that has colored the dispute seemed to continue, as the reunion was recorded in the full glare of the news media. . . . The boy’s Brazilian stepfather led him through a gantlet of cameras and microphones to the United States Consulate, where his American father, David Goldman, was waiting. Videos from the scene showed a crush of reporters and cameramen yelling and jostling with security guards as the boy walked to the front doors of the building, and news reports said he was crying as he was pulled through the melee. . . . “We are very pleased that father and son are reunited,” said Orna Blum, a spokeswoman for the United States Embassy in Brazil. But she criticized the boy’s Brazilian family, who had fought against returning him, for refusing the consulate’s offers to arrange a more private, discreet return, saying, “We really wish that had not been done.” . . . Sergio Tostes, a lawyer for the boy’s Brazilian family, said United States officials had refused to allow the boy’s maternal grandmother to accompany him to the United States — a charge rebuffed by American officials, who said they had done everything possible to ensure the boy could make a smooth transition.

Sean Goldman: "Psychological Armageddon"?

Psychologist Says Boy, 9, Faces Many Challenges Adjusting to Life in U.S., with American Father, After Years in Brazil

CBS News

12-24-09 -- David Goldman has been battling for five years to regain custody of his son, Sean Goldman, from Sean's stepfamily in Brazil. David won his battle this week, and father an son were reunited Thursday in Rio de Janeiro. . . . But, says psychologist Dr. Jenn Berman, Sean Goldman is likely to have a very hard time getting re-acclimated to life in the United States, with David Goldman, in both the long- and short-run. "Emotionally speaking," Berman told Jeff Glor, adjusting could prove to be a "psychological Armageddon" for Sean, 9. . . . Video of Thursday's reunion show a media mob scene around the Goldmans and a visibly stunned Sean Goldman. . . . In the short-term, Sean "has to acclimate to a completely different culture, and a world that is really unfamiliar to him," said Berman, author of "The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy, Confident Kids." "Most of us don't have memories before three-to-five (years old), especially when you've gone through a trauma. But this is a child who has faced some of life's biggest traumas: a divorce, the betrayal of the trust that his mother had with him, the death of his mother, the abandonment of his father. Unbeknownst to him, his father's been fighting day and night for him but, as far as this child's concerned, he's been abandoned by his father. So, this is very traumatic, not to mention the whole media circus."

NEW JERSEY  

Brazil custody case: David Goldman gets custody of son Sean

Brazil's chief justice upheld late Tuesday a lower court order handing 9-year-old Sean Goldman over to his American father. The Brazil custody case has been dragging on for five years, reflecting the difficulty of international custody disputes.

By Daniel B. Wood Christian Science Monitor Staff writer

12-23-09 -- The ruling by Brazil’s chief justice in favor of an American man seeking to gain custody of his son has important resonances in an era of increasing international marriages, say several legal experts. . . . Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes late Tuesday ruled that nine-year-old Sean Goldman should be handed over to his New Jersey father, lifting a stay on a lower court’s order and raising the prospect that the two could be reunited within days. . . . The ruling comes in a five-year custody battle over Sean, who in 2004 was taken by his mother, Bruna Bianchi, to her native Brazil. Ms. Bianchi later divorced his father, David Goldman, and remarried. The boy remained in Brazil with his stepfather and other family after his mother's death last year, while his American father sued in both US and Brazil courts to get him back. . . . The case garnered international attention, and threatened to disturb Brazil-US relations. . . . “Although the Brazilian judicial system finally reached the right decision, its failure to act expeditiously contributed to this tragic story,” says Christopher Schmidt, a legal expert with the US law firm of Bryan Cave LLP.

NEW JERSEY

Father Calls Brazil Judge's Decision Not to Return Son
'Very Upsetting'

Congressman said David Goldman to Appeal Judge's Decision Today in Hopes of Taking Son Sean Home

By Jeffrey Kofman, Chris Cuomo, Kate Mccarthy and Lee Ferran, ABC News

12-18-09 -- In a case that continues to gain international attention, an American congressman said David Goldman would appeal a judge's decision today to keep Goldman's 9-year-old son, Sean, in Brazil instead of sending him home to New Jersey. . . . Within hours of landing in Rio de Janeiro Thursday, Goldman received word that a judge sided with a petition filed by the boy's Brazilian family that Sean should remain in the country until it is decided whether he will testify in court. . . . Goldman called the decision "very discouraging and very upsetting." . . . U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who is traveling with Goldman, told "Good Morning America" this morning that Goldman would not compromise with "kidnappers" and Sean could still return to the U.S. in time for the holidays. . . . "We do believe this will be overcome. There is an appeal that will happen today," Smith said. He added, "The chief justice of the Brazilian supreme court has it within his power to overturn this illogical and unethical stay by giving a boy back to his dad."

TEXAS

Warning signs missed at every step in custody case

Veronica Flores-Paniagua, San Antonio Express  

12-18-09 -- In the case of Jean Paul Lacombe, the 10-year-old at the center of an international custody dispute, where should the buck stop? . . . To hear District Judge Sol Casseb explain it, he followed the law when he authorized the removal of the boy from his mother's custody. Same with Precinct 3 Constable Mark Vojvodich, whose deputies took Jean Paul from a school bus on Oct. 16 and gave him to his father. The father's lawyers, who initiated the emergency petition that led to the school bus takedown? They've been cleared of claims of fraud brought by the mother's attorney. . . . The choir's tune: It's no one's fault that Jean Paul's father, Jean Philippe Lacombe, pulled a big one over our local judicial system. . . . This choir is way off-key. . . . Jean Paul's story hit national airwaves this week with heartbreaking video clips. One, from a North East Independent School District school bus camera, shows the grade-schooler pleading with deputy constables to not take him to his father, as they had, by court order, the authority to do. “He hits me,” Jean Paul cried. Another, shot by KSAT-TV, shows Jean Paul's mother, Berenice Diaz, doing her best to comfort her son before the constables finally take him away.

NEW JERSEY

U.S. dad says he hopes to bring son home

CNN

12-17-09 -- An American father said he hopes to be bringing his 9-year-old son home from Brazil on Thursday after a long international custody battle that has involved U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and many Brazilian courtrooms. . . . A Brazilian court on Wednesday ordered that the boy, Sean Goldman, be returned to the custody of his father in the United States. The father, David Goldman, spoke to CNN's "American Morning" on Thursday shortly after his plane touched down in Brazil. . . . "I hope that this is the last trip I'll have to come down here," Goldman said. . . . In an earlier conversation with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Goldman said, "I hope this time I will be able to go down to Brazil and come back home with my son. Hopefully the rule of law, god, nature, human decency will be followed, and Sean will come home to reunite with me, his only parent."

November 2009

ALABAMA

Representative Cam Ward introduces new child abduction act

WBRC

Cam Ward of Alabaster announced on Wednesday the introduction of the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act. The act is aimed at preventing child abductions in Alabama. . . . In Representative Ward's press release on the issue, it states that the majority of child abductions are perpetrated by family members.  The new act would provide Alabama with a tool for deterring domestic and international child abductions.

NEW JERSEY

Monmouth Co. father fighting to get son back from Brazil to testify before human rights panel

By Bill Handleman • Gannett New Jersey • November 20, 2009

11-20-09 -- Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., announced Thursday that a congressional panel dedicated to human rights will hold a hearing on the international child abduction case involving David Goldman of Tinton Falls, N.J. . . . "David Goldman's human rights as a father, his rights under U.S. law and international treaty have been trampled," Smith said. "He and his son, Sean, have lost five precious years of their life together while the Brazilian government has allowed this case to drag on interminably. . . . "Brazil has not complied with the international treaty on child abduction it freely signed. The U.S. government needs to highlight the urgency of cases like David Goldman's and impress upon our treaty partners that delay is denial especially when children are taken out of one country or remain separated from a parent without that parent's consent."

October 2009

TENNESSEE

Japan frees U.S. dad accused of snatching kids

Savoie's ex-wife had brought children to Japan

Associated Press, MSN

Japanese police said Thursday that they have released an American man 18 days after his arrest on accusations he snatched his children from his ex-wife. . . . The case is among a growing number of international custody disputes in Japan, which allows only one parent to be a custodian — almost always the mother. That leaves many divorced fathers without access to their children until they are grown. . . . While prosecutors have not pressed charges against Christopher Savoie, they haven't yet dropped the case either and an investigation is continuing, said police official Kiyonori Tanaka in the southern Japanese city of Yanagawa. They decided to release him on grounds that he was not a flight risk, he said. . . . Savoie, 38, of Franklin, Tennessee, was arrested Sept. 28 after his Japanese ex-wife accused him of grabbing his two children, ages 8 and 6, from her as she walked them to school in southern Japan. . . . Savoie's current wife, Amy, was awakened by a telephone call at her Franklin, Tenn., home early Thursday and answered to hear her husband's voice. . . . "'Hello, my love, I'm out,'" were his first words, Amy Savoie told The Associated Press.

Lawyer For Jailed American Dad In Japan Says Client Experiencing Torture

Ayinde O. Chase - AHN Editor

10-13-09 -- An American father currently jailed in Tokyo is being harshly treated and his lawyer says it could be deemed torture. Despite his lawyers shocking claims Japanese authorities say the incarcerated father is getting "special" treatment. . . . Attorney Jeremy Morley, in a statement released Monday, said his client Christopher Savoie is being held without trial, subject to repeated interrogation without his attorney present and is being denied essential medical treatment for high blood pressure. . . . Morley goes on to say that his client is suffering from sleep deprivation at the hands of his jailers and is being denied private meetings with his legal team and is being kept from communicating with his wife. Morley who admits some of the claims are hearsay from Savoie's wife, believes what the incarcerated father of two is being subjected to is torture.

September 2009

NEW JERSEY

Walk will support efforts to Bring Sean Home

The Bring Sean Home community will hold a walkathon and fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Pier Village in Long Branch to benefit The David & Sean Fund. . . . The Bring Sean Home Walkathon and Fundraiser will help defray expenses related to the abduction of Sean Goldman to Brazil and his repatriation to the United States. . . . Registration will begin at 9 a.m. at the hospitality tent in Pier Village's Festival Plaza. The day's events will kick off at 10 a.m. with a 3K walk along the oceanfront boardwalk, followed by live entertainment featuring local Jersey Shore performers. . . . This is a family-friendly event and participants of all ages are welcome, including those in wheelchairs, strollers and baby joggers. . . . Online registration is free and open to individual walkers, families, teams, and "virtual walkers," those unable to attend the Long Branch walk in person, but still wanting to show support for David and Sean.

To register online and for additional information about this event,

visit www.bringseanhome/walkathon

or call Mark DeAngelis at 917-751-3735; Christine Schmitt at 732-444-1087; or Melissa Capestro at 732-977-2855.

David Goldman is a Tinton Falls resident whose son Sean was abducted by his mother to her native Brazil in June 2004. Ever since Sean was taken, David has been fighting to bring him home, despite obstacles. In August 2008, Sean's mother passed away. Today, Sean remains in Brazil.

Bring Sean Home Website

U.S. father arrested in Japan for picking up kids
abducted by ex-wife

USA Today

9-29-09 -- A Tennessee father has been arrested in Japan while trying to reach a U.S. consulate with his two children who had been abducted by his ex-wife, Nashville's WTVF TV reports. . . . Japanese police, who do not recognize U.S. family court orders, took Christopher Savoie into custody just outside the gates of the consulate in the city of Fukuoka. . . . In August, Savoie was awarded full custody of 8-year-old Isaac and 6-year-old Rebecca by a Tennessee court after his ex-wife, Noriko, whisked them off to Japan. The court also issued an arrest warrant for her. . . . WTVF says Savoie picked up the children Monday as they walked to school, according to friends and a witness. He then raced to the nearest U.S. consulate to try to get passports for them, CNN reports.

Sullivan & Worcester LLP and Child Advocacy Groups File Amicus Brief before U.S. Supreme Court Concerning International Child Abduction

Court will review whether a left-behind parent possessed "rights of custody" under an international treaty concerning the return of child

Business Wire, MarketWatch

9-22-09 -- Attorneys for Sullivan & Worcester LLP today filed an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging lower court decisions that rejected a left-behind father's application from Chile for the return of his minor son from the United States. In the case that triggered the filing, Abbott v. Abbott, 542 F.3d 1081 (2009), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the trial court ruled that, even though foreign custody-type orders prohibited the mother from taking the child outside of Chile, the Chilean orders appeared to limit the father's rights to visitation without control over where the child resided. The issue before the Supreme Court is whether "no exit" (ne exeat) orders constitute rights of custody under an international treaty known as the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. . . . Barry Pollack, a partner at Sullivan & Worcester and founder of the firm's S&W International ChildFind Program, argues that, "The lower courts never mentioned, let alone adequately considered, whether their rulings or the Chilean orders safeguarded the best interests of the child." He added, "Labels concerning parental rights and the reasons for them can vary widely when used in different countries, cultures, courts and families."

June 2009

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT

Court takes on international child custody case

Associated Press

6-29-09 -- The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear arguments in a child custody dispute between a Texas mother and a British father that tests the boundaries of an international treaty. . . . The court will take its first look at how American authorities handle the Hague Convention on child abduction, aimed at preventing one parent from taking children to other countries without the other's permission. . . . Adding to the case's interest, the Obama administration joined the call for court review by approvingly citing a dissenting appeals court opinion by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor in a similar case. . . . If confirmed, Sotomayor would sit on the court that hears the case next term. . . . The United States is among more than 80 countries that follow the treaty. . . . In this case, Timothy Abbott accused his estranged wife, Jacquelyn Abbott, of violating a court order in Chile by taking their 10-year-old son to Texas without his consent. The child, born in Hawaii, is a U.S. citizen. . . . Timothy Abbott asked an American court to order the child returned to Chile, based on the treaty. The mother argued that she has exclusive custody of the boy and that U.S. courts are powerless under the treaty to order his return.

International child abductions by parents rising

Samantha Henry, Associated Press Writer, Laconia Citizen

6-19-09 -- It was a globe-trotting romance: a handsome American working as a model in Italy falls in love with a Brazilian beauty studying fashion design in Milan. They marry in 1999, settle in an upscale New Jersey shore town and have a son. . . . Four years later, the couple's relationship begins to change from an international love affair into a diplomatic nightmare. . . . The woman, Bruna Bianchi, took the couple's son to visit her relatives in Brazil in 2004 but never returned. The boy's father, David Goldman, who still lives in New Jersey, has been battling to get his son back ever since. . . . While the Goldman case has been prominent in recent news coverage, it is not the only dramatic custody case being fought across international borders. The U.S. State Department says such parental abductions involving American children are rising. There were more than 1,000 new cases of American children taken by a parent to another country last year — a 35 percent increase over 2007, according to the department. . . . The international tug-of-wars get even more difficult to resolve when nations disagree on which parent should keep a child. . . . "It's not just a U.S. trend, it's a worldwide trend," said Julie Furuta-Toy, director of the Office of Children's Issues at the U.S. Department of State.

WASHINGTON

A Father’s Day he won’t see:
International child abduction devastates former Kent man

By Brian Beckley, Kent Reporter General assignment reporter

6-19-09 -- Sunday is Father’s Day, and while dads all over the region and the country will be waking up to gifts and smiles from their children, B.J. Rao will not be one of them. . . . It’s been almost a year since the former Kent resident has seen Anand, his son, who turned 4 just last week. Rao’s ex-wife Arathi Bandi took Anand to India last July and despite court-ordered visitations and a custody change to put Anand into Rao’s home, there is still no word from Bandi. . . . And there’s nothing the authorities can do. . . . “I have absolutely no legal mechanism,” Rao, 40, who is now living with friends in Sammamish, said this past week. . . . India is one of several countries around the world that are not part of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a 1983 treaty signed to prompt the quick return of children who have been taken illegally to another country. . . . Because of that, even the State Department has no jurisdiction and despite legal victories in the United States, Rao will spend this Father’s Day as a custodial parent, but without his son.

Will Brazil do the right thing?

Rep. Christopher H. Smith, Washington Times

6-19-09 -- The title of world's greatest dad this year should go to a mild-mannered New Jersey man - David Goldman - whose love, courage, kindness and amazing tenacity touch the heart of everyone he has met or who has heard of his long struggle to rescue his son from a child kidnapper in Brazil. This will be the fifth year the father has been separated from his son. . . . Despite some recent encouraging signs in the Brazilian federal courts, the sad fact is that in Rio de Janeiro, a man who is not 9-year-old Sean Goldman's father continues to retain Mr. Goldman's son illegally. The Goldman child abduction case begs an immediate, simple and durable remedy: Bring Sean home to his father and to his real home in New Jersey. End the kidnapping without excuse or further delay. . . . Earlier this month, Mr. Goldman traveled to Brazil for the 12th time. He went back to the Brazilian supreme court, which he and I visited together in February, trying to secure justice that a bevy of Brazilian lower courts seemed either incapable or incompetent to render. . . . With a strongly worded opinion by a federal court judge just days ago that ordered Sean to be reunited with his dad, the end of the nightmare may be in sight. Legal appeals loom, however, that may shortcircuit justice once again. . . . Five years ago this week, Mr. Goldman's son, then 4, was abducted by his mother to Brazil. For five years, David has sought relief in the Brazilian courts, and with the aid of an extraordinarily talented legal team, he has left no stone unturned in trying to get his son back. The U.S. Embassy in Brazil - especially the consular general and her team - have fought valiantly for David and Sean. Yet despite all this and repeated trips to Brazil, David was not even allowed to have visitation for more than 4 1/2 years - more than half of Sean's young life. I was there when he finally got to see his son. It was moving beyond words, and the bond of love between the two was strong and obvious. . . . Adding further insult to injury in this kidnapping case, since the death of Sean's mother in 2008, Sean has been held illegally by her second husband, Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, a wealthy and well-connected lawyer whom she married in 2007. Mr. Lins e Silva refuses to return Sean to his father but, heedless of the damage he does to Sean, endlessly delays and obstructs the judicial process. . . . We must be frank about the situation in Brazil. Generally speaking, the Brazilian judicial system thus far has enabled international child abduction by Brazilian citizens. This is no exaggeration. I invite anyone who is interested to read the .pdf State Department's April Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction.

Brazil Helps Kidnap American Children

By Bernard Aronson, Wall Street Journal Opinion

6-17-09 -- Nations distinguish themselves by gestures large and small. In the coming weeks, Brazil will define itself to the United States and to the wider international community by how it treats a 9-year-old boy. . . . Sean Goldman was born and raised in Red Bank, N.J., to an American father, David Goldman, and his Brazilian-born wife. Five years ago this week, Sean was taken by his mother to Brazil on what was supposed to be a two-week vacation. He never returned. . . . What should have happened next is clear, since Brazil is a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Under the treaty, one parent cannot flee the legal jurisdiction where the child resides -- "his habitual residence" -- to shop for a more favorable court venue in another country to contest for custody. Within six weeks of Sean's abduction, Brazil was obligated under the treaty to return him to the U.S., where custody issues could have been resolved legally. . . . The U.S., as the treaty requires, has regularly returned abducted Brazilian children. But Brazil has never returned any of the 66 American children abducted from the U.S. to Brazil. The U.S. State Department has repeatedly cited Brazil for violating its treaty obligations. In Latin America, only Honduras boasts a worse record. More than 1,600 American children are caught in similar circumstances world-wide.

Child Abduction Cases on the Rise

Parent Child Abduction Cases Increased Nearly 70 Percent in Two Years, Reports U.S. State Department

By David Muir & Peter Martinez, ABC News

6-13-09 -- One father's quest to have his son returned from Brazil to the United States has opened up discussion about international custody battles and the lives they affect. There are some 2,000 cases and the number of new cases has increased nearly 70 percent in two years, according to the U.S. State Department. . . . Just this week, David Goldman reached one step closer to getting his son from Brazil, but this bruising legal battle is not over. . . . Brazil's Supreme Court refused an attempt by a Brazilian political party to keep 9-year-old Sean Goldman from returning to the United States to live with his biological father, David Goldman, in New Jersey. . . . However, the Brazilian stepfamily has filed an appeal, blocking the return for now. President Obama has discussed the case with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pushed for the boy's return.

Janet Greer's Story

NORTH CAROLINA

Reunited after 12 long years apart

Matt Bradley, The National Foreign Correspondent

6-17-09 -- After 12 years of court battles, failed negotiations and deferred hopes, Janet Greer has finally met her daughter, Sarah al Gohary, for the first time since her father kidnapped her and brought her to Egypt in 1997. . . . In the intervening years, the three-year-old American girl Ms Greer remembered has blossomed into a 15-year-old Egyptian teenager. But while Ms al Gohary now shares little more than blood with Ms Greer, a flash of recognition was enough to fill the gaps left by differences in language and culture and years of separation. . . . “She looked at me and my hair … it’s long and blonde,” said Ms Greer, who has since returned to her home in North Carolina, in the United States. “The reason I keep my hair that way is so that she will remember me. She looked at me and she said, ‘yes mum, this is how I remember you’. What can I say, that’s what I needed to hear.” . . . Only days before, such a visit had seemed impossible. On June 1, an administrative court in Cairo had decided against allowing visitation rights for Ms Greer – a decision that marked the culmination of more than a decade of battles in Egyptian courts for custody and eventually, merely for visitation rights.

Mom, daughter reunite after 'blank void' of 12 years

Meeting in Egypt ends forced separation since 3-year-old girl was abducted by father

By Katie Urbaszewski, Honolulu Advertiser Staff Writer

6-13-09 -- The last time Janet Greer had seen her daughter was in 1997, when she was abducted in Honolulu by her father and taken to Egypt. . . . Sarah Eloghary, nicknamed Dowsha, was 3 years old at the time. . . . Since then Greer, 56, has endured 12 years of hell trying to find Dowsha and see her again. . . . Last week, it finally happened. . . . Onlookers who watched the reunion between Greer and now 15-year-old Dowsha — Arabic for "noisy" — said the teen seemed shy and reserved at the time. But when her father, worried that Dowsha might be feeling overwhelmed by the experience, asked if she wanted to go out and play, she said no, she wanted to stay with her mother. . . . "That was the best thing I could ever hear in my life," Greer, previously a 30-year resident of Hawai'i, said yesterday from her home in North Carolina. . . . The reunion marked an uncommon resolution to an out-of-country abduction. There are about nine or 10 unresolved cases in Hawai'i of children who were abducted from the United States, said Charlene Takeno, coordinator of the Missing Child Center in Hawai'i. That compares with about 1,000 U.S. children being kept illegally outside the country, according to the national Office of Children's Issues. . . . An estimated 75 percent of such cases are never resolved.

Waynesville woman finally reunites with abducted daughter

By Susan Reinhardt

6-4-09 -- Janet Greer's moment finally arrived Wednesday — 12 years after her daughter was abducted by her father and taken to Egypt. . . . With Chris Cuomo from ABC's “Good Morning America” at her side, the Waynesville woman entered her daughter's world, wrapped her arms around her, touched her and smelled her hair. . . . She shed tears that never stopped pouring from years of living with a broken heart. . . . That heart broke when Greer's ex-boyfriend — who had a court-allowed weekend visit with his then-3-year-old daughter Sarah in 1997, never returned with her. Instead, Magdy Elgohary got on a plane with Sarah in tow and flew to Egypt. . . . Authorities in Hawaii, where Greer and Elgohary were living at the time, issued warrants charging him with felony kidnapping. . . . But Sarah “Dowsha” Elgohary's family refused to let Greer to see her own child. Even after the Egyptian courts awarded her custody, the family intervened to stop it from occurring. And local leaders refused to intervene on her behalf. . . . Finally, the day she's dreamed and fought so hard for happened Wednesday. . . . “I think she saw her in the afternoon over there,” said Ruth Greer, Janet's mother from their Waynesville home. “She said, ‘Mom, she looks like me; tall and slender. She's got hair down to her waist.' She was ecstatic.”

Mother Finds 'Peace' With Lost Daughter in Egypt

After 12 Years, Janet Greer and Daughter Exchange Hugs, Gifts, Smiles

By Lee Ferran & Chris Strathmann

6-3-09 -- Janet Greer had 15 minutes to prepare for a reunion she's been fighting for for more than a decade. . . . Twelve years ago, Greer's Egyptian ex-boyfriend Magdy Elgohary took their 3-year-old daughter, Sarah, to Egypt, and Greer has been battling since that day to get her daughter back. This week she traveled to Cairo in hopes of seeing Sarah. . . . Wednesday, she received a call from the U.S. Embassy that changed her life -- the battle was finally over, and she would be able to see her daughter. . . . Nervous and excited, Greer made her way to the Cairo home of Elgohary's brother, where she and her daughter, now 15 years old, finally met with a hug. For two hours, the two were allowed to catch up on nearly a lifetime of a lost relationship. . . . Every time I would speak Arabic, she would start laughing at me, which is a good thing," Greer said. "Every time she smiles, she looked just like me. Exactly like me. I couldn't get over it." . . . When the meeting was over, Greer exchanged phone numbers with her daughter and received a piece of chocolate she treasures like "gold."  / Bond Not to Be Broken . . . "I feel at peace in my heart," Greer told "Good Morning America" after the emotional reunion. "I feel even if I go back to America tomorrow and she is not with me, I still feel like the connection is there now. I know I will see her again." . . . The trip to Egypt didn't start out so promising.