Raped, pregnant and ordeal not over - 31 states give parental rights to rapists

[kelly1mm]

54. If someone is convicted of rape I agree they should be barred from contact with that child/parent.

The only case I can find of a convicted rapist (statutory) getting custody was a woman who raped a minor boy. She even got child support from him. The link to the story is above.

Do you want statutory rapists lose all parental rights? If the mom is 19 and the dad is 16 then mom should lose the child as soon as she gives birth?

I cannot support (although I DO sympathize and understand the problems inherent in reporting and prosecuting rape cases, especially non-stranger rapes) terminating the parental rights of a parent based on the word of one of the parents that the child was conceived subsequent to rape. Women DO sometimes lie about rape. I am sure everyone remembers the Duke lacrosse team rape case.

I can give you another. I represented a dad in a custody case. Here is his story:

Parents were together for 1.5 years. In the middle of the relationship, she got pregnant. Dad went to the prenatal appointments (important later as this was in the medical records) lived with the mom, paid bills (important again), etc. 2 weeks before the birth, they break up. Dad show up to the hospital, mom says he is not the father so he could not see the baby OR sign the birth certificate. Dad sues for custody.

Mom responds by claiming 1) she barely knew the guy, 2) he raped her at a party when he got her drunk.

Until the trial (5 months after the birth) dad was not allowed to see the child per mom's instructions.

At trial, the first witness I called was her. She repeated her story. Great for us! Then the medical records showing dad at the prenatal appointments, then the bank records showing utility payments by my client when the lived together. Then the Facebook postings with all the pictures of them together and the baby updates. Then I call her parents (who heard thee prior testimony as I did not invoke the rule on witnesses) and they told the truth - that she was mad at him for the breakup and was punishing him with the child.

Dad now (last 2+ years) has full custody (legal and physical) and mom has supervised visitation.