Columnist Sandy Thompson: Unusual custody arrangement backfires

Sandy Thompson

Friday, April 5, 2002 | 2:56 a.m.

AN UNORTHODOX custody ruling that a then 4-year-old girl alternate living every other two months with her mother in Mexico and her father in Las Vegas has backfired.

Jessica Harrison, now 6, is being concealed in Mexico in contempt of a Family Court order, says her grandmother, Lydia Harrison. Lydia and her son, Mark Harrison, say they have not seen Jessica in nearly two years.

Because of the mother's failure to appear in court to answer why she did not turn over Jessica to Mark for visitation, Mark has been granted temporary sole legal and physical custody of Jessica. According to the order, he may obtain the assistance of any appropriate law enforcement agency "in any state or country" to obtain custody of Jessica.

That has been very difficult. Lydia says the family has spent thousands of dollars in efforts to have the girl returned to Las Vegas, but to no avail.

Despite the Hague Convention, an international agreement among some nations to honor each others' custody laws, it is a difficult and lengthy ordeal to obtain Mexican authorities' cooperation in cases of parents abducting their children and fleeing across the border.

Although a signatory nation to the Hague Convention, Mexico does not recognize some American laws. According to Brian Kunzi, senior deputy attorney general and director of the Nevada Missing Children's Clearinghouse, parental abduction is a felony in Nevada but Mexico does not consider it an extraditable offense.

Mexican officials are extremely difficult to work with. Kunzi's office has other unresolved cases -- some years-long -- that involve parents who kidnapped their children and are living in Mexico.

After the initial custody ruling, Lydia and Mark's greatest fear was that Martha would not return Jessica once she was with her relatives in Mexico.

Although they have a Family Court ruling granting them sole custody, Mark simply can't go to Mexico to pick up Jessica. "We were told it's very dangerous if we go there," Lydia says.

The Harrisons have filed a Metro Police report and are trying to go through other channels to bring the girl home. They had talked to Jessica on the phone after she left Las Vegas, but Martha or her family members hung up on them after a few minutes, upsetting Jessica, Lydia says. They have had no contact with the child for some time.

The original "two months here -- two months there" custody ruling was made in April 2000 by Judge Dianne Steel after an hours-long hearing. At the time, Steel was concerned that the child maintain a loving connection to both parents, who were divorced. The custody arrangement was to be a trial experiment, she said, until the girl was old enough to go to school. Then another arrangement was to be worked out.

At the time, Mark and Martha each had sought custody of Jessica. Mark contended that it was he who primarily cared for the girl during the marriage because Martha's epileptic seizures prevented her from properly caring for Jessica. Martha claimed Mark verbally abused her and had a violent temper. It is not known if this is why Martha is violating the custody order. During the court hearing, Steel said Martha's relatives gave conflicting testimony, and neither Martha nor Mark's claims were substantiated.

Mark was concerned about his daughter living in Mexico and wanted Martha to stay in the United States. Steel said Martha had "good-faith reasons" for returning to her native Mexico, but expressed her own concerns about it and whether it would benefit Jessica.

Most Family Court judges tend to grant out-of-state move requests. They cite recent Nevada Supreme Court decisions that support "not chaining mothers" to one area. In this case, the move was risky because it was to a country that does not honor American custody orders.

Steel said she wanted to ensure that Jessica have equal access to, and maintain loving relationships with, both parents. The reality, however, is that equal access means no access for a Las Vegas father and his daughter.