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Can Dating a Felon Cause You to Lose Custody

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  • 03-25-2014, 04:41 PM
    linds1985
    Can Dating a Felon Cause You to Lose Custody
    My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Ohio
    My sons father, who I was never married to, has recently decided he wants custody of our son. Mind you, after weeks of making no attempts to see our son. I recently started dating someone who has a felony record. There are disorderly conduct charges from a few years ago but the more recent charge was theft and receiving stollen property which he did serve a few months in prison for. He is on parole but works full time and abides by all his parole stipulations. He has NO charges of domestic violence, assaults or anything involving a child or violence against another person or any drug charges. My sons father n his family are telling me they will take custody from me because he is a felon. Is this possible? I work full time and provide everything for my son. My sons father pays child support that is automatically taken from his s.s.i checks.
  • 03-25-2014, 04:48 PM
    cdwjava
    Re: Can My Boyfriends Felony Record Cause Me to Lose My Son
    Clearly we cannot predict what an unknown court might rule based upon unknown factors. However, it is possible that a court might find your residing with a convicted felon currently on parole is too great a risk.

    I find it curious that he went to prison for what seems to be a first offense for theft and/or receiving stolen property. One usually goes only to county jail for that. And, if he served only a few months, that sounds as if it was a parole violation and not an original sentence. And, disorderly conduct? People don't go to prison for that. Have you actually SEEN his criminal history record? Or, are you basing your conclusions upon his statements? Keep in mind that your baby daddy will almost certainly seek to obtain the full record and maybe even related police reports and if he can show that your BF's activities or history can place your mutual child at risk, he will stand a better than even chance of wresting custody from you.

    You may discover that your boyfriend's convictions and past allegations are a little more than he has let on.
  • 03-25-2014, 04:55 PM
    linds1985
    Re: Can My Boyfriends Felony Record Cause Me to Lose My Son
    He did not serve prison time for the disorderly. And, yes, the most recent was a parole violation from previous theft and RSP charges. And I do not reside with him. I have my own apartment,same apartment I brought my son home to almost 4 years ago. My boyfriend has his own place.
  • 03-25-2014, 05:15 PM
    cdwjava
    Re: Can My Boyfriends Felony Record Cause Me to Lose My Son
    While his not residing with you might help, the fact that he might be present in your life or may spend the night frequently could still give a court cause.

    Whether the court can or will act, we cannot say. But, unless you are absolutely certain of his criminal history, you may be in for a few surprises.

    As a note, few people go to prison for theft or receiving stolen property. If he did, it was likely because he pled down from far more serious offenses, or, he has a loooong history of such offenses such that his past finally caught up to him. And, if he has a history of larceny, his activities could draw you in as well.

    Before you take up this fight, you may want to see if you can find out for yourself exactly what his history might actually be. If you wait until court, it might be too late.
  • 03-25-2014, 05:18 PM
    llworking
    Re: Can My Boyfriends Felony Record Cause Me to Lose My Son
    Quote:

    Quoting linds1985
    View Post
    He did not serve prison time for the disorderly. And, yes, the most recent was a parole violation from previous theft and RSP charges. And I do not reside with him. I have my own apartment,same apartment I brought my son home to almost 4 years ago. My boyfriend has his own place.

    So, how much time does your boyfriend spend around your child? That is a critical issue. If you are mostly spending time with your boyfriend during the time dad has the child, its pretty irrelevant. If the boyfriend is virtually living at your house, even when the child is there and even though he has his own place, that is another story.
  • 03-25-2014, 05:31 PM
    linds1985
    Re: Can My Boyfriends Felony Record Cause Me to Lose My Son
    Quote:

    Quoting llworking
    View Post
    So, how much time does your boyfriend spend around your child? That is a critical issue. If you are mostly spending time with your boyfriend during the time dad has the child, its pretty irrelevant. If the boyfriend is virtually living at your house, even when the child is there and even though he has his own place, that is another story.

    My boyfriend works first shift and I work 2nd. My sister watches my son while I work. We see each other couple times a week...go to dinner, movie, act. Our schedules don't allow much more. And yes, I searched his record and he has multiple theft charges spanning over ten years. So, yes, past caught up with him. Of the couple of times we see each other, my son may one of the times if we all go to eat together. The majority of our contact is through our phones. Also, my sons father and mother who he resides with has multiple DUI charges with my sons father having a drug charge as well and criminal trespassing. He "claims" he cannot cook, clean, do laundry, add or subtract, ect. And is collecting ssi for this.....kind of makes me wonder how he would explain to a judge that our son is better off with him because I have boyfriend a rarely see who is a felon.
  • 03-25-2014, 06:52 PM
    mmmagique
    Re: Can My Boyfriends Felony Record Cause Me to Lose My Son
    But...seriously...he has multiple theft charges spanning over many years...is this really what you want for yourself, and your child?
  • 03-26-2014, 01:17 PM
    linds1985
    Re: Can My Boyfriends Felony Record Cause Me to Lose My Son
    I didn't ask for a personal opinion.
  • 03-26-2014, 01:30 PM
    CourtClerk
    Re: Can My Boyfriends Felony Record Cause Me to Lose My Son
    Quote:

    Quoting mmmagique
    View Post
    is this really what you want for yourself, and your child?

    Based on the defensiveness of her response, yes, it is.

    But OP, how can you claim that you provide "everything" for your child, but his father pays support? Surely you're using that money for SOMETHING, right?
  • 03-26-2014, 04:15 PM
    mmmagique
    Re: Can My Boyfriends Felony Record Cause Me to Lose My Son
    Quote:

    Quoting linds1985
    View Post
    I didn't ask for a personal opinion.

    I didn't give one. Although I'll give you that it can be surmised from my question. I do wish you (and especially your son) the best. Life is hard on it's own without bringing known criminals into the mix. That's not coming from a high horse; that's coming from experience.
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