Boy Must Stay in Brazil For Now, Judge Rules
SAO PAULO (CBS/AP) A federal judge has ruled that 9-year-old Sean Goldman, a boy at the center of an international custody battle, must remain with his Brazilian stepfather until a final ruling is issued on the child's permanent custody.
PICTURES: David Goldman Fights for Son
The ruling overturns a separate judge's order earlier this month that Sean's biological father, U.S. citizen David Goldman, should have custody of his son six days a week whenever Goldman is in Brazil.
In 2004, Sean's mother, Bruna Bianchi, took him for a vacation to her native Brazil and never returned. She later married Rio de Janeiro lawyer Joao Paulo Lins e Silva and died last year giving birth to a daughter.
The boy is now living with Lins e Silva, who wants to retain custody.
Goldman, who lives in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, has been seeking custody of Sean under the Hague Convention on international child abductions, which requires that participating countries return abducted or wrongfully retained children to the country of their "habitual residence."
A lower court in Brazil ruled earlier this month that Sean be returned to the United States, but the decision was suspended by a Brazilian Supreme Court justice based on a petition filed by a political party, which argued that removing Sean from his current family environment would hurt him.
PICTURES: David Goldman Fights for Son
On June 10, the Supreme Court issued yet a third ruling, that the decision on the boy's fate must be made by a federal court. It's not clear when that ruling may come.
Last week, two Brazilian family members of Sean were in the United States to make their case that the boy is better off in Brazil than returning to New Jersey to live with his father.
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PICTURES: David Goldman Fights for Son
PREVIOUSLY ON CRIMESIDER
June 3, 2009 - Not So Fast: Brazilian Court Keeps American Dad From Son
June 2, 2009 - Father Battles For Son And Wins