upholding maternal grandparent’s right to visitation after her daughter’s death in spite of father’s attempt to terminate the visitation
How later courts described this case
- upholding maternal grandparent’s right to visitation after her daughter’s death in spite of father’s attempt to terminate the visitation
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Donald L. Corbin, Justice, concurring. I agree with the stice, court’s order in this case, but I would modify the judgment to require that the grandmother’s visitation be supervised until such time that the child’s allegations may be fully investigated. Cases like the one now before us present a serious dilemma. On the one hand, we must protect children from being the victims of sexual predators. It practically goes without saying that children who are the victims of sexual abuse will carry the scars of abuse with them for the rest of their lives. As a parent and a judge, I want to do everything in my power to protect these children.
On the other hand, we must also protect the dignity of our legal system and the reputations of those persons falsely accused of sexual crimes by exposing false accusers and preventing them from manipulating the system. Indeed, it is unfortunate that many custody and visitation disputes involve false accusations of child abuse made by those very persons who claim to love the child. Such accusations, even if later shown to be false, can be extremely damaging, both to the person who is falsely accused and to the child who is unwittingly drug through the battle.
While I admit that I am somewhat suspicious of the circumstances in which these sexual allegations have come about, given the litigious history of this case, I believe that the child’s safety is of paramount concern. Given the conflicting opinions from the two psychologists and the certified counselor who interviewed the child, and given that the trial judge took it upon himself to order the Hunt family to participate in both individual and family counseling, I believe it is appropriate to require that the grandmother’s visitation be supervised until such time that the child’s allegations can be fully investigated. If the child’s allegations are substantiated, then visitation should be terminated. If, on the other hand, it turns out that the child was being coached, I believe that the persons responsible must be held accountable for making such damaging allegations. I thus concur in the judgment.
Thornton, J., joins in this concurrence.