Sean Goldman Custody Battle Not Over Yet...Brazilian Kin Sues

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Brazilian Kin To Fight To Get Boy Back From U.S.


The Brazilian family of a 9-year-old boy returned by court order to his U.S. father said Tuesday it will fight to regain custody.

Lawyers for the Brazilian relatives of Sean Goldman said they will push forward with a request from his Brazilian grandmother to allow the boy to make his wishes known in court.

The request was initially denied, but the Supreme Court has not issued a final ruling. The highest court doesn't convene until February.

David Goldman brought Sean back from Brazil on Christmas Eve after a Supreme Court decision following a five-year international custody dispute. The boy's mother, Bruna Bianchi, took Sean to her native Brazil in 2004, divorced Goldman and remarried. Goldman began legal efforts to get his son back.

After Bianchi died last year in childbirth, her husband, Paulo Lins e Silva, continued the legal fight and won temporary custody. A ruling last week by the chief justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court finally cleared the way for the boy's return.

NBC News paid for Goldman's charter plane from Rio de Janeiro back to the U.S. The father and son stayed with relatives in Orlando, Florida, and return to Tinton Falls, N.J., on Monday.

At a news conference Tuesday in New Jersey, Goldman and his attorney, Patricia Apy, said they did not know exactly what sort of claim the Brazilian family would make.

Apy said continued litigation by the Brazilian relatives could affect visitation proceedings in New Jersey.

"Part of what we're going to wait to see is if they're going to exercise good judgment and move forward as normal grandparents," Apy said.

Goldman said his son arrived in New Jersey on Monday and was eager to play outside, even in the cold New Jersey wind. The boy is likely go to public school, though he has not yet been enrolled.

"He hasn't cried, he's just happy," Goldman said. "He just wants to have fun and not have all this pressure on his shoulders."

Visitation Rights

Apy said details still need to be worked out for conditions of visitation for the boy's family in Brazil.

Goldman said he doesn't want to deny them access to the boy the way they kept him away.

There could also be legislation to address other International Abduction cases.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who traveled to Brazil with Goldman several times, is pushing a bill that would allow the U.S. to impose sanctions on countries that don't comply with an international treaty on how to handle similar abduction cases.

There are about 2,800 such cases worldwide involving children from the U.S., officials say.

"Checkbook Journalism"

Also Tuesday, a professional media group criticized NBC for ferrying the Goldmans back to the United States on a chartered plane.

Calling it an example of "Checkbook Journalism," the Society of Professional Journalists said the arrangement damages the network's credibility.

NBC spokeswoman Lauren Kapp said the network invited them to ride on a plane that had already been booked to carry its own employees home for the holidays, and "TODAY's" exclusive interview was booked before the invitation was extended.

An attorney for Goldman said Tuesday that there was never a contract with NBC and that the Goldman camp was loyal to the network because it did a thorough report on his situation a year ago, before the story became major news.

"There was no Quid Pro Quo," Apy said, adding that some other media outlets suggested favors in return for access, and that Goldman turned them down.

She said Goldman accepted the flight in part because of fears that multiple camera crews might be onboard if they flew back to the U.S. on a commercial flight.



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David Goldman & Son Sean Head Home To New Jersey

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N.J. Father David Goldman and Son Fly Home From Brazil



A U.S. congressman said a New Jersey man and his 9-year-old son left Brazil today at the end of a five-year International Custody battle.

Rep. Chris Smith said David Goldman and the boy, Sean, are on their way to the United States on a charter plane.

They left Rio de Janeiro about three hours after the boy's Brazilian relatives handed him over at the U.S. consulate today.

Brazil's Supreme Court chief justice two days ago had ordered the boy handed over to Goldman.

The pair were expected to fly back to the Goldman's home in New Jersey within hours.

David Goldman, of Tinton Falls, has been trying to gain custody of his son again since his ex-wife took the 9-year-old to her native country. But family members and child psychology experts are concerned that Sean's re-acclimation to life in the United States may be a difficult one.

Leslie Goldman last saw her nephew dashing around with his cousins at a backyard birthday party five years ago, about a week before he was taken to Brazil by his mother.

When the 9-year-old eventually returns to New Jersey, she said she doesn’t expect the same Sean to step off the plane. "I’m sure it’s not going to be all smooth sailing, and I know we’ll have some help with that," Leslie Goldman said Wednesday of the boy’s re-adjustment "It won’t be easy, but it will be easier than having him there."

On Wednesday, the bitter five-year battle to regain custody of Sean, by his father David Goldman of Tinton Falls, neared conclusion when the child’s Brazilian family halted its legal efforts as a court-ordered deadline for delivering the boy loomed.

A Federal court in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday gave the boy’s Brazilian family until 9 a.m. today to return Sean to his father.

But even after all the legal victories David Goldman has had in the long custody battle, the boy’s relatives in New Jersey remained guarded.

"We’ve come really close many times," Leslie Goldman said. "I’ve been down this road before so it doesn’t feel like anything until he really comes home."

Both the U.S. and the Brazilian governments have said the matter fell under the Hague Convention, which dictates children who are abducted should be returned to their "habitual residence" custody should go to the parent in the country where the child orignally lived -- for Sean Goldman, the United States.

The boy, whose mother died last year in childbirth, has lived in Brazil with his stepfather and other relatives. His maternal grandmother said yesterday Sean was upset by the decision and wants to remain in Brazil.

"We think we’re truly at the end of this ordeal," U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), who traveled to Brazil to support David Goldman, said in an interview Wednesday from a Marriott hotel in Rio de Janeiro, where the congressman has been camped out for several days with Goldman and a team of his attorneys. "We have no reason to believe it will not be enforced."





The seemingly endless court battle may be over, but transporting a boy primarily raised in Brazil to live with relatives he may not fully remember in New Jersey will add its own traumas, according to child therapists.

Children under the age of 5 usually retain few memories, so the boy’s recollections of his family and experiences here are likely be very limited, said Lawrence Shampain, a child psychiatrist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Adjusting to a new culture and language will make his re-introduction to life in the U.S. significantly more difficult than most family or marital separations, which can often include weekend visitations or vacation time spent between relatives, he said.

"In divorce, usually there’s some contact in the relationship, but this is really a complete break, so it’s everything to the extreme," Shampain said. "He might experience more anxiety, maybe depression."

In addition to the loss of his father and relatives in New Jersey, the boy recently dealt with the death of his mother in Brazil, Shampain noted. The psychological impact of transporting him to New Jersey could be very similar to that of an adoption, he believes.

Ideally, Sean Goldman will be able to sustain a relationship with his family in Brazil, provided the family is able to move beyond the hostility of a drawn-out legal battle, said Peggy Brady-Amoon, a psychologist who teaches in the graduate counseling program at Seton Hall University.

"Children do well when the adults in their lives are able to communicate," Brady-Amoon said. "We know this from children who have thrived despite their parents’ divorces."

If the boy is given enough space to build up trust with his new family, "the fact that he’s young will likely be to his advantage," she added. "Giving him time to play, to reflect, to talk about it at his own pace, will help him transition well. Children are extremely resilient."

There will likely be struggles ahead for David Goldman, too, she said. Sean may not be as affectionate or trusting as his father initially hopes, and it could take a long time to re-establish their relationship.

"He doesn’t really know his son, and his son doesn’t know him," Shampain agreed. "He doesn’t know his son’s habits, he doesn’t know his son’s likes and dislikes, who this nine-year-old is."

Yet friends insist David Goldman is willing to do what it takes. He sat in his hotel room for hours yesterday, checking his e-mail on a laptop for updates from the U.S. Embassy in Brazil, anxiously awaiting his son with a plastic bag filled with Christmas presents, they said.

"I know first-hand this is a loving and caring father who will make sure he does everything he needs to do for Sean," said Mark DeAngelis, a friend who lives in Holmdel. "He just wants to spend time to rebuild his relationship with his son. And Sean’s got his grandparents, aunts and uncles here, too -- I think he’ll be fine."



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Brazilian Court Orders Abducted Boy Returned To US

An appeals court in Brazil on Wednesday ordered the return of a 9-year-old New Jersey boy to his father after a five-year custody battle between the boy's American father and Brazilian mother. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

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Dad calls it Abduction. David Goldman talks with TODAY’s Meredith Vieira about testifying before Congress about what he considers a case of international child abduction.

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Brazil Court rules for U.S. dad seeking custody


A Federal Appeals Court ruled Wednesday that a 9-year-old boy living in Brazil should be returned to his American father, but the case will likely be appealed again, officials said.

A panel of three Brazilian judges ruled the boy must be handed over to his father, David Goldman, at the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro within 48 hours, said Ricardo Zamariola, Goldman's attorney.

"He's really happy but he is worried about any eventual future decision that could block the boy being handed over to him," said Zamariola, who added that he didn't expect a final resolution until at least the first half of next year.

Goldman's lengthy court battle to get custody of his son, Sean, has gained international attention as President Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have all weighed in, seeking the child's return.

Clinton said she was pleased to hear the latest court decision. "It is my hope that this long legal process is now complete and that the Goldman family will be reunited quickly. They will be in my thoughts and prayers today and throughout this holiday season," she said in a statement.

The decision by the Federal Appeals Court in Rio de Janeiro upheld a Brazilian federal judge's earlier ruling.

Stepfather likely to Appeal

But Zamariola said he was certain lawyers for Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, the Brazilian stepfather with whom Sean is living, would appeal, perhaps to the Supreme Court.

Lins e Silva's attorney, Sergio Tostes, declined to comment.

Goldman was not present for the ruling Wednesday and didn't return a request for comment made to his U.S.-based attorney, Patricia Apy. Zamariola said he spoke with Goldman and that he was expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday morning.

The case began in 2004, when Goldman's wife, Bruna Bianchi, took then-4-year-old Sean to her native Brazil. Goldman says it was to be a two-week vacation.

But she stayed and so did the boy. She eventually was divorced there and remarried. Last year, she died giving birth to a daughter.

Goldman, who lives in Tinton Falls, N.J., had already been seeking his son's return under an international treaty that covers cross-border child abductions.

Bianchi's death generated more interest in the case, which has been discussed this year by top-level diplomats in Washington and the Brazilian capital, Brasilia. It also has been the subject of congressional hearings in the U.S. and has prompted protests in both countries.

Previous rulings favorable to Goldman have been scuttled by other Brazilian courts.

It's outstanding news

But U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, who has traveled to Brazil with Goldman and held congressional hearings on the issue, said he was optimistic Sean would soon be in the U.S.

"It's outstanding news," the New Jersey congressman said of Wednesday's ruling. "Even if there is an appeal, the order is to deliver Sean to the Embassy Friday."

Meanwhile, Sean's Brazilian maternal grandmother has said that Sean wants to stay in Rio. She has filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking that the boy's statements be taken into consideration. A similar request from the Brazilian family was denied earlier this year. The child, who has dual citizenship, has been shielded from speaking directly to the news media.

Both Goldman, a former model who now has a fishing charter business, and members of Bianchi's family, including her second husband, have appeared on television talk shows to make their case.

Goldman and his son reunited in February for the first time since the child was taken to Brazil. They have not seen each other since June.



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