Q; Father touched a 10-year old girl sexually. The case is still going on. I want full custody and to have father’s rights taken away. (Ben Avon, PA)
A: Terminating another parent’s parental rights is very difficult unless the other parent consents to it. I think what you are asking is whether you can get full custody to the exclusion of father because of the allegation against him. You can go into court on an Emergency Petition regarding the allegation and see if the judge temporarily modify custody. Your motion will have more bite to it if on the sexual assault case, police are contacted, charges are being investigated or filed and a forensic examination has been scheduled. As far as permanently changing custody, first, he needs to be convicted or plead guilty. If that happens, you can always petition the court for what you want. In custody cases, there are sixteen custody factors a court needs to consider in deciding a custody order. Talk to your family law lawyer, they get in to this kind of stuff.