Published: July 2, 2010
Updated: 3:41 p.m.
Ruling goes against adoptive mother
By GREG HARDESTY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
ORANGE – An adoptive mother lost a key battle Friday in a long-running child-custody fight with her daughter's biological father, and was ordered to part soon with the 2-year-old girl she has raised since birth.
Orange County Judge Michael J. Naughton ruled that officials in the father's home — Montgomery County, in Ohio — have jurisdiction over the ongoing case. As a result, Vanessa Doss, 2, is expected to be placed in foster care there by July 16. After that, officials there will sort out if Vanessa will eventually return to the Rancho Santa Margarita home of Stacey Doss, her adoptive mother since birth, or stay in the custody of her biological father, Benjamin Mills Jr., 39.
Stacey Doss of Rancho Santa Margarita gets a smooch from her adopted daughter Vanessa, 2. The single mom is caught up in an interstate custody battle after Vanessa's dad emerged and now wants his daughter back. Doss has launched an online "Operation Vanessa" campaign to win support for her side.
Mills in 2005 served time for domestic battery, and child services officials in Ohio reportedly are investigating the status of Mills' four other biological children.
Doss, 45, adopted Vanessa two years ago under the belief that Mills was not expected to be part of the baby's life.
"I was shaking like a leaf during the hearing– now I need to lie down. I'm in shock," Doss said in an interview after the hearing.
"I am now certain that there is no one in this entire judicial process, either in Ohio or California, who has any regard for Vanessa's well being."
Officials in Ohio wanted Vanessa to be returned there immediately, but Doss' attorneys successfully argued that an emergency custody order still in place is valid.
Naughton agreed to give Doss until July 16 to try to successfully appeal the ruling and keep Vanessa in Orange County.
If the appeal fails, Vanessa will be placed in foster care, with Mills getting night visits, according to Doss. Eventually, Doss said Naughton indicated, the child likely will be placed with the birth grandmother.
The proceedings were not open to the media or public.
Doss said she plans to continue fighting for custody of Vanessa even if her appeal fails.
A hearing set for July 29 in Ohio will address whether Mills acted as the "presumed father" during the pregnancy. If it is deemed he did not, Doss may have more legal ammunition to get her daughter back, although it is unclear how much since laws regarding child-custody issues differ among states.
Mills served time for domestic violence in 2005 in an incident involving Vanessa's birth mother, according to court records.
Mills' attorney, Elizabeth Gorman of Legal Aid of Western Ohio, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Friday's hearing attracted about 25 sign-waving supporters of Doss' online "Operation Vanessa" campaign as well as a bank of television camera crews.
Neither side in the dispute argued that Mills was Vanessa's biological father, or that Doss adopted Vanessa two years ago believing that Mills wasn't part of the child's life.
Doss, a public relations consultant and single mother, believes Mills shouldn't get custody because Vanessa is the only mother she has known – and that separating Vanessa from her will have a devastating effect on the child.
"I actually don't have any plans to give her to anybody," Doss said.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/mills-256103-vanessa-ohio.html
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
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ReplyDeletePeople do make mistakes. Must someone suffer their entire lifetime for mistakes they've made in the past. If this man had murdered a child or anyone else, he should never be granted custody. He should never have been screwed over by his wife. Both parent's should have a say on the fate of their child. What the wife did was horrible. She should be the one suffering. No-one knows the whole story. No-one knows if the wife was really abused or not. Yes, Vanessa has a good home, but were any other relatives given the chance to adopt her? I think not. That's the real problem today. Relatives are NEVER considered.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't his wife; it was his girlfriend who he beat and abused. He has been imprisoned for domestic violence - once pulling the birth mother so hard by the hair that when the police arrived at the house, they discovered bloody clumps of hair all over the floor. So, no one knows if she was really abused or not. Really? You're making that statement?
ReplyDeleteHe has FOUR other children of which he doesn't have custody. This was a legitimate adoption. Unfortunately the birth mother lied - under penalty of perjury - and claimed it was a one-night stand and he disappeared.
So now Vanessa goes into foster care in Ohio. You think that's a better alternative? Ohio social workers reported that neither Mills' home or the paternal grandmother's home is a safe place for Vanessa. Do these people sound like they really want to love and care for Vanessa the way Stacey will and provide her with a good home, family, love, education, etc? I don't.
I agree that if the relatives showed REAL interest in providing for Vanessa, then they should have more rights, but if that's their intention, they would have made more of an effort, don'tcha think?? No calls to see how Vanessa is, no emails, no birthday wishes NOTHING! This is his attempt to get back at her and not to provide Vanessa with a loving home. You would think he would have done that with his other 4 children. Look at the facts here. That's the story.
Foster care is NOT a better alternative for Vanessa and it sounds like the adoptive mother has been very good with her. Your right, the relatives should have tried to contact Vanessa, but were they threatened not to by the social worker's? Don't believe anything you hear out of the mouth's of social worker's. You don't know that the Mill's home or the paternal grandmother's home is NOT a safe place for Vanessa. You only have the word's from social worker's who are trained to lie and deceive. I'm sorry, but the adoptive mother I'm sure is a good placement, but her grandmother may be also. And if the relatives never tried to make contact, I'm sure it wasn't because they didn't want to.
ReplyDelete