Dad battles for son taken to Brazil four years ago

[Marx]

Dad battles for son taken to Brazil four years ago


Nightmare began when late wife took boy: ‘I’ve been desperately fighting’

It is like a nightmare for David Goldman, except that when he wakes up, it is still there. His son Sean, abducted to Brazil by the boy’s mother four years ago, remains almost in sight but always out of reach, in defiance of the laws of two nations and the world.“I haven’t seen him in four years, and I’ve been desperately fighting and fighting to be with him,” Goldman told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Wednesday in New York.

Bruna told him that if he ever wanted to see Sean again, he would have to assign sole custody of the boy to her.

Fighting his emotions, Goldman seemed always on the verge of breaking down as he told his story of loss and frustration. It began more than four years ago, on June 16, 2004, when the New Jersey man drove his wife, Bruna; their 4-year-old son, Sean, and Bruna’s parents to Newark Airport so they could go on a two-week vacation to Bruna’s native Brazil.

A shocking call
Goldman thought his marriage was solid and his wife happy. But when she got to Brazil, his wife called him and said she was not returning to the United States. And, she said, she was keeping Sean with her. What’s more, Goldman says, Bruna told him that if he ever wanted to see Sean again, he would have to assign sole custody of the boy to her.

Goldman went to court in New Jersey, where Sean was born, and obtained a court order calling for a custody hearing in that state and granting custody of Sean to Goldman pending the hearing. According to the laws of Brazil and the United States, as well as international law as spelled out in the Hague Treaties, to which Brazil is a signatory, Sean should have been returned home for the hearing. But Brazilian courts waited a year to respond to the New Jersey court, and then ruled that since so much time had passed, the child should stay with his mother.

Bruna obtained a divorce from Goldman in Brazil and married a Brazilian lawyer, who Goldman says comes from a prominent and politically well-connected family in that country. Pregnant by her new husband, Bruna died in childbirth last month.

In America, Goldman’s marriage was still valid, he says. He learned from friends in Brazil about Bruna’s death about a week after the fact. After four years of trying to get his son back, he thought this was finally the opportunity he needed.

“As tragic as it is, I needed to be with my son,” Goldman told Vieira, referring to his wife’s death. He thought, “Here’s my chance to go down and bring him home and be with my son.”

Paper tiger?
Goldman had been traveling to Brazil for every court hearing that ruled against him over the years. He went again, only to discover that his late wife’s Brazilian husband had filed a petition with local family courts to remove Goldman’s name from Sean’s birth records and replace it with his own.

“[That] would exclude me from ever even being my son’s father,” Goldman told Vieira. “So far, the Brazilian judicial system is letting him do this.”

The U.S. Embassy in Brazil has written letters asking Brazilian authorities to recognize Goldman’s paternal rights and the international and national laws that seem to favor his case.

“What I’ve been told is, we’re considered a paper tiger,” Goldman said. “We’ll write letters. We’ll have meetings. But there’s no accountability on Brazil for kidnapping my child. In essence, this man who is no blood relation to my son could be any man taking any child to Brazil and filing custody, and with the delayed process of those courts, they’ll say, ‘Yes, this child belongs with that person.’ ”In Goldman’s New Jersey home, Sean’s room remains as it was when he left four years ago, his favorite Scooby-Doo stuffed animal still on his bed, his clothes still in his closet. The boy is 8 now, and, although Goldman has been able to speak with him a few times on the phone, he has not been able to see him. Goldman has a Web site, bringseanhome.org, dedicated to regaining custody of his son.

Ignoring laws
Vieira asked how it’s possible that the Brazilian courts have apparently ignored their own laws.

“I know this man comes from an influential family. I don’t know,” Goldman replied. “It’s just wrong on every level of the law in both countries, in international law … He should have been home within six weeks, and yet there was this sympathy — the mother and the child.”Goldman said he never intended to deny Bruna the right to see their child. “It was never about separating the mother from the child. He was born here, we were married here and our habitual residence was here, so a court here should decide jurisdiction. You should not be able to flee and make up a story.”
Now, the question is how a person who is not related by blood to Sean can erase Goldman’s name from his son’s birth records.

“How can it be possible, a non-blood person could take my child?” Goldman asked rhetorically, fighting his emotions. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
For more information on David Goldman’s custody battle, visit bringseanhome.org.

[Stan]

Originally Posted by Marx

Dad battles for son taken to Brazil four years ago


Nightmare began when late wife took boy: ‘I’ve been desperately fighting’

It is like a nightmare for David Goldman, except that when he wakes up, it is still there. His son Sean, abducted to Brazil by the boy’s mother four years ago, remains almost in sight but always out of reach, in defiance of the laws of two nations and the world.“I haven’t seen him in four years, and I’ve been desperately fighting and fighting to be with him,” Goldman told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Wednesday in New York.

Fighting his emotions, Goldman seemed always on the verge of breaking down as he told his story of loss and frustration. It began more than four years ago, on June 16, 2004, when the New Jersey man drove his wife, Bruna; their 4-year-old son, Sean, and Bruna’s parents to Newark Airport so they could go on a two-week vacation to Bruna’s native Brazil.

A shocking call
Goldman thought his marriage was solid and his wife happy. But when she got to Brazil, his wife called him and said she was not returning to the United States. And, she said, she was keeping Sean with her. What’s more, Goldman says, Bruna told him that if he ever wanted to see Sean again, he would have to assign sole custody of the boy to her.

Goldman went to court in New Jersey, where Sean was born, and obtained a court order calling for a custody hearing in that state and granting custody of Sean to Goldman pending the hearing. According to the laws of Brazil and the United States, as well as international law as spelled out in the Hague Treaties, to which Brazil is a signatory, Sean should have been returned home for the hearing. But Brazilian courts waited a year to respond to the New Jersey court, and then ruled that since so much time had passed, the child should stay with his mother.

Bruna obtained a divorce from Goldman in Brazil and married a Brazilian lawyer, who Goldman says comes from a prominent and politically well-connected family in that country. Pregnant by her new husband, Bruna died in childbirth last month.

In America, Goldman’s marriage was still valid, he says. He learned from friends in Brazil about Bruna’s death about a week after the fact. After four years of trying to get his son back, he thought this was finally the opportunity he needed.

“As tragic as it is, I needed to be with my son,” Goldman told Vieira, referring to his wife’s death. He thought, “Here’s my chance to go down and bring him home and be with my son.”

Paper tiger?
Goldman had been traveling to Brazil for every court hearing that ruled against him over the years. He went again, only to discover that his late wife’s Brazilian husband had filed a petition with local family courts to remove Goldman’s name from Sean’s birth records and replace it with his own.

“[That] would exclude me from ever even being my son’s father,” Goldman told Vieira. “So far, the Brazilian judicial system is letting him do this.”

The U.S. Embassy in Brazil has written letters asking Brazilian authorities to recognize Goldman’s paternal rights and the international and national laws that seem to favor his case.

“What I’ve been told is, we’re considered a paper tiger,” Goldman said. “We’ll write letters. We’ll have meetings. But there’s no accountability on Brazil for kidnapping my child. In essence, this man who is no blood relation to my son could be any man taking any child to Brazil and filing custody, and with the delayed process of those courts, they’ll say, ‘Yes, this child belongs with that person.’ ”In Goldman’s New Jersey home, Sean’s room remains as it was when he left four years ago, his favorite Scooby-Doo stuffed animal still on his bed, his clothes still in his closet. The boy is 8 now, and, although Goldman has been able to speak with him a few times on the phone, he has not been able to see him. Goldman has a Web site, bringseanhome.org, dedicated to regaining custody of his son.

Ignoring laws
Vieira asked how it’s possible that the Brazilian courts have apparently ignored their own laws.

“I know this man comes from an influential family. I don’t know,” Goldman replied. “It’s just wrong on every level of the law in both countries, in international law … He should have been home within six weeks, and yet there was this sympathy — the mother and the child.”Goldman said he never intended to deny Bruna the right to see their child. “It was never about separating the mother from the child. He was born here, we were married here and our habitual residence was here, so a court here should decide jurisdiction. You should not be able to flee and make up a story.”
Now, the question is how a person who is not related by blood to Sean can erase Goldman’s name from his son’s birth records.

“How can it be possible, a non-blood person could take my child?” Goldman asked rhetorically, fighting his emotions. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
For more information on David Goldman’s custody battle, visit bringseanhome.org.

Terrible, unfortunately most likely this will not be resolved in the courts. The guy has to kidnap him back. Or wait 5-15-20 years and reconnect if the then-man has interest.

This really is not fundamentally different from visitation obstruction / alienation. As I type this I am literally 3 minutes from my son with whom I am in the 2nd year of no visitation. He might as well be on Pluto. Or Brazil. I cannot get anyone to help.

It is also very common for things to be established by delays. I raised my son nearly solo the first 9-1/2 years of his life. Then when a divorce was filed and I was attacked again and again first temporary custody was given to my exe and I was kicked out of my own house. By they time we got to court to sort things out roughly a year had gone by and the sentiment was that yeah that was not good but the child has a new pattern and so this should not be disturbed. Yet during that time I was experiencing massive visitation obstruction and the psych reports gave us the clues why (narcissistic, labile, histrionic, dominating, manipulative) yet those were ignored. A few years later and there is no more visitation at all and the child is alienated. Again no one will help around here.

So I guess my kid is in Brazil too.

[Marx]

One of my daughters is some 4,000 miles away, with a child-abuse-enabler. Her mother allows the grandmother to beat her other children (I state them clearly as I saw it repeatedly with my own eyes). My ex defends her animal mother from repercussions by stating the kids deserved it or 'forgetting' about instances that happen right in front of her. She has made the point to me, that her animal (mothwhore) has never laid a finger on our daughter. But to me, it's a case of "At what age will she be considered old enough to receive physical and mental abuse from her so-called grandmother?" I look forward to the day that hateful creature dies.

[Dylan MacVillain]

This is a very disturbing case, especially considering that the mother is now dead and that the closest blood relative the boy has is being denied custody of him.

American men need to be very careful about getting involved with Brazilian women. There are a lot of Brazilians where I live, and nearly all of them are illegal aliens. They are involved in every kind of scam and illegally-run business you can imagine: illegal immigration, document fraud, driving without licenses; illegally-run landscaping businesses, hair salons, pharmacies, upholstery shops, garages, even doctors' offices performing surgeries, etc.

It is not uncommon for Brazilian women (or other illegals) to find an American boyfriend or husband, have a kid, claim "abuse", have the man thrown out of his own home, deny him access to his own kid(s), and then be granted permanent residency and permitted to
"self-sponsor" (oxymoron!) for citizenship. It's just another scam these people pull off on a regular basis.

A guy I know has been going through a custody battle for years with an illegal-alien Brazilian woman over their son. To make a loooooooooong story short, he was recently granted full custody by the judge (American- fortunately she didn't flee the country!) because the mother finally admitted, in court no less, that she just wanted money, not her son.

The United States of America does not have an extradition treaty with Brazil, but I don't know what bearing that has on child-custody cases.

[onegirl]

I saw this on the Today Show today. The injustice is appalling but not surprising.

[Feckless]

Makes me sad. How would people react if the dad fled to Brazil with his kid?