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Good question. I'd like to know this too. I suspect they never got involved because he willingly let his baby be taken out of state and never reported her kidnapped.
That's not consistent with one of the articles posted earlier:
Quote:
According to the grandmother, as the week stretched into a month and then longer, the McCauls got nervous. Then the baby sitter broke off contact. Sonya's dad contacted Dickson County authorities, who told him that he had abandoned his daughter and would be arrested if he set foot in the state.
At that point he sent the baby sitter's husband to Tennessee to pick up Sonya. Separately, Grandma McCaul drove there on the same mission.
Additionally, if you believe the Nebraska court should have had jurisdiction, the 10 year prison sentence law is a moot point, as that's a Tennessee statute. Utah is infamous for ignoring rulings from other states and trampling biological parents' rights once a child enters their state.
From reading the most recent articles, it really sounds as if the Hodgins family didn't have a very good idea of what foster parenting meant. They didn't understand or overlooked the fact that the goal is generally reunification with the biological parents.
There is a great deal the Hodgins family could have done to make this transition easier for Sonya...a GREAT deal.
It sounds as if the law is solidly in agreement that the Hodgins' don't really have a case.
I'm confident Sonya will stay with her biological father. When that becomes apparent, Kim Hodgin's supporters will need to stop feeding her need for media attention and hindering her ability to accept and properly grieve the loss of her foster child.
Unfortunately the legal system does not always work "in the best interest of the child" in custody, foster, and adoption cases. There are issues that are clearly outlined in the law, and others that are not so tangible. This certainly appears to be a case where the law has failed to meet the best interest of the child, regardless of who you support in this mess.
As someone who has been a single parent, a foster parent, an adoptive parent, and as someone who was adopted as a child, it saddens me to see the legal fighting that can go on for years and continue to traumatize a child that will likely never be able to sort out the resulting emotions. Every move, every change of home, every different care giver is an additional trauma (search trauma induced care) that will leave an emotional scar of some kind on this child.
We recently had a child removed from our care and placed with family after 2.5 years in our home. We had invested years in loving and caring for this child, and had overcome fears and issues related to unknown earlier issues. After years, a family member suddenly decided they were willing to take on this little star, and we had to say good bye. As long as the family member was not deemed unfit, it did not matter that we were probably the "best" placement, it only mattered that a biological relative was now "capable and willing". A social worked explained it as sometimes they legally are forced to settle for an acceptable option instead of the best option.
What she has to share is all in the past. She has no knowledge of how Sonya is with her biological father.
It's routine for courts to grant delays to new attorneys. The Hodgins could drag this out forever by constantly switching attorneys.
They aren't dragging this out by constantly switching attorneys. For all we know their previous attorney could have recommended another firm with specific expertise in this area. The former social worker isn't claiming any current knowledge. She was asked about when all this begun...which incidentally has a lot to do with where they are now.
At a hearing on Wednesday, Sonya’s court-appointed attorney, Jennifer Honeycutt, said she is doing well.
He dismissed Honeycutt’s statements in court that Sonya does not want to come back to live or even visit. “I don’t believe that as far as I can throw my truck,” he said.
Give me a break! This isn't classism, not even close. The biological father broke the law. His rights have not been restored for a reason...he has not proven himself to be a "good" father. If he does, I'm sure the state will restore his parental rights. Either way, he is still primarily responsible for all of this disruption in Sonya's life.
You are not dictating who should be or should not be a parent. That is up to a judge and family court. Furthermore, this man paid his debt to society, simply because he broke the law AND paid his debt does not negate his right as a parent.
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