Parental Visitation Via Internet

It Has Its Difficulties, But Those Involved Like It

(CBS)  At first, Gary Kaleita's divorce seemed pretty ordinary. He remained close to his 10-year-old daughter Ashton, who lived with her mother in Orlando. Then his former wife set off a bombshell — she wanted to remarry, leave Florida and move to Ohio with their daughter. Gary went to court and fought it.

"It was definitely a high-conflict litigation case. My ex-wife wanted to move to Ohio and I wanted Ashton to stay here and we essentially had a very high-conflict custody battle over Ashton's future and her relationship with me and what would happen," said Gary Kaleita.

After a year of intense legal fighting over where their daughter should live, a Florida District Court judge awarded custody of Ashton to her father. For her mother, Tawny Kaleita-Sniderman, who now lives in Ohio, the court's ruling was a blow.

"It's devastating not having Ashton with me because I'm missing out on all the everyday things in her life, but as far as seeing her (goes), the judge gave me the best thing that he could possible give," Kaleita-Sniderman said.

The judge ordered that Ashton have contact with her mother via the Internet, CBS News Correspondent Russ Mitchell reports. Sniderman and her ex-husband had to purchase separate, state-of-the-art computer systems that feature video conferencing, video cameras, a phone line and Internet service.

"It's so much better than a phone call because you can actually see, you can participate. She can see you. As long as there is video conferencing, it takes away a lot of the pain of losing primary custody of your child," Kaleita-Sniderman said.

Ashton likes it, too. I can show her my hairstyles, I can show her my artwork," she said.

But Gary Kaleita sees things differently. In a world where fathers get custody in just 9 percent of all cases, he objects to being ordered to buy a $1,200 computer system. Even more, he says, the court's ruling allows his ex-wife to visit Ashton on the Internet any time she wants.

"We have not been able to work out a reasonable schedule that takes into account Ashton's evening activities and her homework and other things, so there does tend to be interruptions and disruptions of our family activities," he said.

Courts across the country are struggling to strike the balance between the custodial parent's right to relocate with a non-custodial parent's right to maintain relationships with their children. Some judges says the internet gives them a viable option when deciding visitation cases.

"The judge has wide discretion in fashioning contact in visitations. It's based upon what's in the best interest of the child, so anything that we view as being in the child's best interests, we will do," said Florida Judge James E.C. Perry.

Still, some advocates for children fear that as the technology improves, internet visitations may replace face-to-face visits.

"Having your child in (your) physical presece, real time with that boy or girl nothing can replace. We don't give birth to Internet babies; we need reality, not virtual reality," said David Levy, president of the Children's Rights Council.

The reality for Ashton is that her parents live in two states. In the two months since the court's unusual order, she's been able to see her mother just three times, but she's had 11 Internet visits.

"It helps because you can see them and you can tell them about everything you've been doing, but it's still not as good as seeing them in person," Ashton said.