My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Florida
For approx the past 18 months I have been raising 2 children with my now ex girlfriend. I am not their biological father. The children are 2 and 4 and have no contact to their biological father.
The biological father has been found guilty of three counts of Capitol Sexual Battery, the victim was a daughter he had custody of from a previous relationship. I can provide the case numbers if needed. He continues to write the mother and children from prison regularly however she disregards the correspondence and throws them away.
The biological father’s family (local) has not had contact with the children since the time of his arrest. The mother has attempted numerous times to establish a relationship and has met with denial. The biological paternal grandmother (not local) has maintained some contact with the mother. None of the paternal biological family has supported or assisted in any way since the time of his arrest.
The children never had legal residence at my home. During our relationship we split time between her residence and mine, however her residence is the children legal residence.
Both of us have been financially supporting the children. I did claim them as dependants on my 2008 tax return.
Those are all the relevant facts I can think of at this time.
What I want to find out are my rights and what courses of action are open to me. There is the obvious emotional aspect of this, but what I really need to know is what I can and can not do.
Can I keep the children for overnight weekend visitation with the Mothers consent?
If so, in case of emergency can I take them to get medical care without a POA?
Can I adopt the children without the fathers consent due to his Felony status?
Can she remove all his rights and gain full custody herself due to his Felony status?
Their mother and I are no longer in a relationship however we both agree that children view me as their father and they have no recollection of their biological father or that family. She is willing to work with me to provide for these children and keep my emotional position as their father.
I just need to know what options are open to me and how to properly pursue them.

