By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A mother and her seven year-old daughter have disappeared after a Vermont judge granted full custody to the mother’s former lesbian partner.
According to reports by LifeSiteNews.com and ABC News, former lesbian Lisa Miller, 40 of Winchester, Virginia failed to obey a court order to transfer custody of her daughter, Isabella, on January 1, to Janet Jenkins, 43, of Fair Haven, Connecticut. Both Miller and Isabella have been reported missing.
The case has drawn international attention ever since Miller and Jenkins split in 2003 and began fighting over custody of their daughter. The two were joined in a civil union ceremony in 2000 and had Isabella after Miller was artificially inseminated. Miller claims the relationship with Jenkins was abusive and left the relationship in 2003. She later renounced her homosexuality and became an evangelical Christian.
While the two were sharing custody of Isabella, Miller said her daughter was frequently left traumatized after visits with Jenkins who sometimes forced the child to bathe naked with her. As a result, Miller has been fighting for full custody of Isabella and refusing to allow the child to visit Jenkins.
According to the Rutland Herald, Miller’s behavior angered Vermont judge William Cohen who repeated warned her that she would lose custody of Isabella if she continued to refuse Jenkins’ visitation rights. In the end, he decided the only way to ensure the child has equal access to both parents was to switch custody from Miller to Jenkins.
“In the long term, the change in custody will be in (Isabella’s) best interests as she will have the opportunity for maximum continuing physical and emotional contact with both parents,” he said.
According to LifeSiteNews.com, this custody change is occurring in spite of the fact that Jenkins has no biological ties to the child and the state of Virginia, where Isabella lives, does not recognize same sex “marriage” or “civil unions.” Unfortunately, Virginia state courts have refused to strike down the Vermont court orders requiring visitation, and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case.
During a Dec. 29 hearing on the case, Cohen admitted that no one has had any contact with Lisa Miller since the Nov. 20 court order reversing custody.
“It appears that Ms. Miller has ceased contact with her attorneys and disappeared with the minor child,” the judge said. “Her attorneys have attempted to contact her, but she had not returned any messages. The present whereabouts of Lisa Miller and IMJ [Isabella Miller-Jenkins] are unknown.”
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