Family courts are in the business of issuing custody orders. These courts typically determine parenting rights, custody rights, visitation rights, and child support obligations. If a former spouse violates a custody order, then legal consequences will occur. If your ex has violated a New Jersey custody order, contact Lento Law Firm Family Law Team at 888.535.3686.

Parental Actions Can Jeopardize the Right to Custody

Persons who are used to doing things their own way can bridle under court orders that mandate changes in behavior or new ways of handling certain issues. In custody cases, an extreme example of a wrongful parental action is kidnapping a child in violation of a visitation order.

A Recent Example of Violation of Custody Orders

A Wallkill, NY, news story reported that around 3 p.m. on January 26, 2024, Wallkill police were informed that a mother picked up her child at Maple Hill Elementary School in violation of a custody order. The non-custodial mother, Chana Elena Morales, age 32, from the Bronx, violated the custody order with the assistance of her boyfriend, Johntae Xavier Williams, age 22, also from the Bronx.

There are few nightmares worse for a custodial parent than the abduction of their child. Abduction (also known as kidnapping) occurs when a visitation decree has been openly ignored and violated. Law enforcement agencies are well-trained in the handling of child abduction incidents. AMBER alerts are put into effect on an emergency basis to broadcast the abduction and to ask the public to keep their eyes open for the car or license plate of the abductor. It is generally acknowledged that time is of the essence to prevent harm to the abducted child.

The New York abduction incident became a New Jersey incident when the abductors drove over the NY-NJ state line. This event triggered the FBI's interstate manhunt to find the child and the abductors.

About six hours after the initial abduction report, the child was found alive. The abductors were caught in East Rutherford, NJ, about a 1.25-hour drive south of the elementary school. Three New York law enforcement agencies, three New Jersey law enforcement agencies, and the FBI participated in the location and recovery of the abducted child.

A Violation of a Visitation Order Is a Serious Offence

The mother and her accomplice have each been charged in the Orange County, New York, courts with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts, including the specific crime of custodial interference. They face fines, penalties, and incarceration as a result of their actions. Their cases will be heard in the Wallkill, New York, courts. The mother's hurtful actions regarding her young child may have seriously jeopardized her parental rights to visitation.

If you are involved in a New Jersey custody case, contact Lento Law Firm Family Law Team at 888.535.3686.