J.R.S. v. C.M.B. n/k/a C.M.W.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 15, 2017
DocketJ.R.S. v. C.M.B. n/k/a C.M.W. No. 1401 MDA 2016
StatusUnpublished

This text of J.R.S. v. C.M.B. n/k/a C.M.W. (J.R.S. v. C.M.B. n/k/a C.M.W.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.R.S. v. C.M.B. n/k/a C.M.W., (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

J-S94005-16

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

J.R.S. IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v.

C.M.B. N/K/A C.M.W.

Appellant No. 1401 MDA 2016

Appeal from the Order Entered August 4, 2016 In the Court of Common Pleas of York County Civil Division at No(s): 2006-FC-001862-03

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., RANSOM, J., and FITZGERALD, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, J.: FILED FEBRUARY 15, 2017

C.M.B. n/k/a C.M.W. (“Mother”) appeals from the order, entered in the

Court of Common Pleas of York County, granting J.R.S. (“Father”) sole legal

custody and primary physical custody of Daughter and Son, ages 15 and 17,

respectively, at the time of the custody trial in August 2016. We are

constrained to vacate and remand.

A review of the certified record indicates that the parties married in

1995 and separated in 2006. Mother is an audiologist; Father is a family

physician. When the parties separated, Mother had primary physical

custody of the children. Father had partial physical custody (Wednesdays

____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court. J-S94005-16

and every other weekend). This arrangement, adopted by court order,

continued through 2009.

In 2008, Mother entered into a relationship with J.B., a disabled

veteran. J.B. moved in with Mother and children.

In 2010, Mother moved to Wisconsin to assist with family health

issues. Father consented to Mother’s relocation with the children. Mother

and J.B. married in Wisconsin. Mother and Father arranged for Father to

have custody of the children during the summer months and school breaks.

J.B. homeschooled the children. Around this time, Father remarried;

Father’s wife (“Stepmother”) has a young daughter.

In March 2012, while the children were visiting Father in Pennsylvania,

Daughter revealed to Stepmother, with whom she has a close relationship, 1

that J.B. had sexually assaulted her. Father immediately notified Mother

that the children would not be returning to Wisconsin. Mother’s initial

position was that Daughter was not being truthful and that J.B. was

innocent. Mother stated that Daughter never told her or Son anything

directly and that “neither one of us had any idea.” N.T. Custody Trial,

8/1/16, at 94.2 ____________________________________________

1 Daughter calls Mother by her first name, and refers to stepmother as “mom.” Trial Court Opinion, 8/4/16, at 4. 2 The court questioned Mother as to why she initially did not believe Daughter. In fact, it was a year before Mother believed Daughter. Mother stated: (Footnote Continued Next Page)

-2- J-S94005-16

In September 2013, Mother returned to York County for a court-

ordered visitation with the children, which did not go well. Mother, who was

staying at a hotel in York, arranged for a private investigator hired by J.B. to

meet with the children in the hotel room, apparently at the behest of J.B.’s

criminal defense attorney. When questioned, Daughter became upset, and

ultimately the police became involved. Thereafter, the court suspended

visitation, limiting Mother’s contact with Daughter and Son to letters and

emails.

_______________________ (Footnote Continued)

[J.B.] came across as this ultra[-]Christian person. He would never do anything like that, I mean according to him[.] . . . He was very manipulative and controlling in many ways. [L]ike my relationship with my kids and with [Father] as co-parent, he got in the middle of all that . . . I think we had a really good co-parenting relationship before. . . But when [J.B.] got into it, all of a sudden there were always issues. . . .[H]e just wanted to control everything. And that whole thing with homeschooling the kids was like his way of controlling how often [Father] got to see the kids. . . . I let him walk all over me . . . he took control of everything and controlled me by – I was a born again Christian. And he took my – I was a newborn Christian. So he came across – and even though we weren’t [yet] married, he was the man of the house. And I had to be submissive to him and that included in regards to the kids.

N.T. Custody Trial, 8/1/16, at 94-96. During the in camera interview, the court asked Daughter if there was a reason she did not tell Mother about the sexual abuse. Daughter stated, “She never really asked. So I didn’t really – I was little. So I didn’t realize how wrong that was, how bad that was that it was going on.” Id. at 39.

-3- J-S94005-16

In April 2013, J.B. was convicted of first-degree sexual assault against

a child and was sentenced to two consecutive fifteen-year sentences. Trial

Court Opinion, 8/4/16, at 8. At the custody trial, Mother testified that,

although estranged from J.B, she had not commenced divorce proceedings

on the advice of counsel due to ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, but intends

to file for divorce. Mother also noted that she has had substantial therapy

since J.B.’s conviction. She has apologized several times to Daughter, by

letter, by videotape, and at a reunification counseling session she attended

with Daughter. Mother has also apologized to Father.

Mother filed a petition for modification of custody, seeking to re-

establish physical custody.3 At the custody trial, the court interviewed

Daughter and Son in camera, and heard testimony from Mother, Father, and

Stepmother. Both Daughter and Son expressed a preference to maintain the

status quo, continuing a weekly schedule of telephone calls with Mother.

Essentially, Daughter stated that she is not ready to have physical contact

with Mother, but agreed to continue reunification counseling. At the time of

the custody trial, Daughter and Mother had participated in two reunification

counseling sessions together.

3 Mother currently lives alone. She works for a consortium of schools, and her work schedule is tied to the school calendar.

-4- J-S94005-16

Son, who is almost eighteen, expressed a desire to continue the

relationship on his own terms.4 Father supports Mother’s and Daughter’s

reunification counseling, and is not opposed to ultimate contact, but his

position is that the relationship should proceed at Daughter’s pace.

Following the custody trial, the court entered an order on August 4,

2016, awarding Father sole legal custody. See 23 Pa.C.S. § 5332(a)

(defining “sole legal custody” as ‘[t]he right of one individual to exclusive

legal custody of the child.”). The court did allow Mother access to the

children’s medical, dental, religious and education records pursuant to 23

Pa.C.S. § 5336. The court granted Father primary physical custody of the

children,5 and permitted Mother one phone call per week for each child until

each child reached 18 years of age. The court also permitted Mother to

contact the children by email and letters. The order further stated:

The parties are free to modify the terms of this Order, but in order to do so, the Court made it clear that both parties must be in complete agreement to any new terms. That means both parties must consent on what the new terms of the custody arrangement or schedule shall be.

In addition to the above, the Court orders the following:

(1) Mother shall engage in one session of counseling with Ann Shorb[,] Ph.D. to address issues of reunification with Daughter. If acceptable to Dr. Shorb, Mother may ____________________________________________

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Bluebook (online)
J.R.S. v. C.M.B. n/k/a C.M.W., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jrs-v-cmb-nka-cmw-pasuperct-2017.