Dad's Custody Battle Hits "Brick Wall"

(CBS)  It's been more than two years since 5-year-old Liam McCarty was taken from his home in New York, and brought illegally to Rome by his mother.

Now 8, Liam is not living with either of his parents, but rather at an orphanage facility run by Italian Social Services.

That's because in 2007, Manuela Antonelli, Liam's mother, ignored an American court order and illegally kidnapped her son.

Antonelli, now a fugitive wanted by the FBI, brought him to Italy where they lived together until an Italian court order deemed her mentally unfit to parent.

CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reported Liam was placed in an orphanage where his fate rests in the hands of the Italian courts.

Ernie Allen, of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said Liam's case is has become complicated - but shouldn't be.

He said, "The reality is that what these courts need to look at is where was the primary residence? Who has legal custody? And, why is this child in an orphanage in Italy instead rather than being with his father in the United States?"

Michael McCarty, Liam's father, was awarded primary custody by an American court after Antonelli fled the country.

However, Liam will remain an orphan until the Italian court rules on the case. And with the courts shut down on holiday, Miller pointed out, that won't happen before the end of August.

But according to Michael, getting custody of his son is like hitting "a brick wall at every turn."

Michael, who appeared on The Early Show Wednesday, said he's appealed to every court in Italy and the United States, as well as law enforcement agencies, but said he's not making inroads.

As for seeing his son, Michael said he's only permitted to visit him in the orphanage under surveillance and observation.

"It's very unusual and difficult circumstances," Michael said. "There are a lot of people around, we're in a room...It's terrible."

Michael added the U.S. government's hands are tied.

"They can't really interfere in the other country," he said. "But the issue really is that I have custody and they are ignoring those orders over there (in Italy). They have ignored every document from the United States."

Philip Segal, McCarty's attorney who came on The Early Show with Michael said law is "extremely clear" that what's happening in Italy is illegal.

Michael's estranged wife, Segal said, was "expressly ordered not to remove (Liam) from New York, and what's happening is entirely illegal."

The custody order under international law, he said, has to be enforced because Antonelli violated state and federal kidnapping laws.

Michael said, "I think if (his case) gets some attention, and people understand what's happening - the way the rights of this child are ignored - then maybe we can get somewhere."

Michael said he is hoping to gain access to someone in the American government who can exert some pressure on the Italian authorities.

"(My son) is in a very traumatic situation right now, and he is in desperate need of my help," he said. "And I need help in order to help him."

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For more information on Liam McCarty, and Michael McCarty's fight for custody, visit SaveLiam.org.

[greg4sean]

If you want to help Liam and the thousands of others, according to state department numbers, press your congressman and congresswoman to pass H.R. 3240 the International Child Abduction Prevention Act of 2009

[chasinglight2]

This is unreal! How terrible for this poor child and his dad! What are these people stupid or something? This child isn't an orphan! He has a loving, stable parent who's capable of taking care of him and WANTS him!
This is a no-brainer! Give Liam back to his dad you incompetent, fool, idiots! An over two year delay? For what? To figure out the obvious? How can they not see how wrong this all is? Plus, this child is an American citizen! Makes me ashamed to admit to my Italian blood! Gheeese!

[Fransis67]

I have known and work with Liam's mom Emanuela and I remember her as a very sweet woman with only one interst at heart. Her Son.
I will not speculate on how many times she told me about the difficult situation she faced raising her son alone with no help from Liam's father and I do remember her working hard to support him She never looked mentally unstable to me, if else, very stressed about the fate of her child and how could she raise him all alone. Liam attended a Child aid program after school and I recall talking to Emanuela on how she had to apply for financial aid to have him attend as her income was too low and she had no financial help from Liam's Dad. Now, was that true or not? Only the parties involved know.

There are always 2 sides of the story. I cannot immagine how desperate she must have beeen to take Liam away that night at JFK What was going through her mind and how lonely she must have felt.

I am Italian, incredibly proud of my heritage, blood and family. Our Government is not perfect but quite honestly, is there a real need to display those harsh feelings against a race/nationality based on a man story that may or may not be true?

Manuela needed help in this Country and clearly she did not get much I guess she was not a winner by all American Standards. Too bad she didn't think about going on national News. But I can tell you That was not her style.

[ncmec]

We note that American agencies such as the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (USA) are still claiming that this child is missing, although it now appears that his whereabouts have been quite well known for some time now. Perhaps we should not jump to judgment here about Italian or even American justice. There are usually good reasons why these kinds of cases tend to be complex.

Our commentary on this case may be found at:
http://www.ncmec.eu/case.php?Id=19

Secretariat, NCMEC.EU

[forthelost]

I will say that that site is run by a parental kidnapper named Emmanuel Lazarides, and is simply used to argue internationally abducted childrens' cases should not be publicized.

[arlocid]

Hypocrisy knows no bounds when you are a child abductor and a pedophile. The "Secretariat" of the infamous ncmec.eu who has posted on this page is but one of the aliases that Emmanuel Lazaridis, a known parental kidnapper and pedophile with warrants for his arrest in the US and France. He kidnpped his daughter from her custodial mother in the US when custody proceedings were not going the way he wanted. He went to the Dominican Republic to obtain a divorce and has hopped from there to France and Greece manipulating the complexities of international law and jurisdiction to keep his daughter prisoner. Don't be taken in by his false concern for children's rights or flowery language. He holds a PHD in statistics but, while intelligent, he remains a danger to children... including/especially his own.

[CELKEE]

This little boy deserves to be with his father, the courts in the U.S. ordered that he not be removed from the country, and that's exactly what Liam's mother did.
Italy seems to have the most ass backwards child custody laws I have ever seen.
Why aren't the Italian courts enforcing the U.S. custody orders?

[clacombe]

When I saw this story, I just had to stop and listen. This little boy and his dad need help. When there is a loving parent who is willing and able to take care of his child...I do not understand how
the child can be help in an orphanage. If you are a believer and reading this message...please take a moment to pray for this family.
Call on your churches and other believers to pray for the boys safety
for the fathers peace and for a family reunion. We can help!

[uleryrd]

This is unbelievable that Liam has not been returned to his daddy. That poor child has rights, and if he isn't reunited with his dad soon, who knows what psychological damage will have been done. It's been 2 years!! Italians are all about the family........a la familigia. So what is their problem? Our government needs to get involved to pressure the Italians into returning Liam to his home. And someone needs to help Michael McCarty with his mounting legal bills. My heart goes out to this family. I will let all my friends and family know about this.

[stephaniemvlaw]

I saw your story on The Early Show this morning and it made me ashamed to be Italian.

I was thinking the same thing as Claudia re the reporters. But there was a lot of "politics" involved with that.

I feel for you Michael. I would just die if I couldn't be with my 3 boys. Even sadder, this may cause Liam irreparable psychological harm. You need to find a way to sue for damages this has caused you and your family. Someone needs to be held accountable.

Good luck and God bless.

[dfhickman]

This is a good cause for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to undertake. I hope that this situation leads to the resolution of problems like this one internationally.

[suzanne2772]

My heart goes out to Michael and Liam. I truly hope he gets his son back soon. My boyfriend is going through a custody battle right now to simply secure his visitation schedule (We are coming up on two years for this legal fight). I can understand the pain that Michael is going through because I see this daily with my boyfriend. I sincerely hope that the courts open their eyes someday and realize father's rights. God bless and good luck, Michael.

[hayreen]

Michael, get loud and keep making noise!!! Let the whole world know about this injustice!

Claudia made a great point... If Bill Clinton can go to North Korea to secure the release of the two journalists with no problem, he can go to Italy, legal papers in hand, and get your 5 year old son back in the USA where he belongs!!!

Best of luck to you!

[aldon61]

The sad truth is because he's no one! Both girls worked for Al Gore, President Clinton's VP. One of the ladies has a very famous sister with lots of face time on TV. Michael, unfortunately, is a nobody, it's all about "who you know". Good luck Michael and GOD bless!