N.F. n/k/a N.H. v. B.F

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided November 30, 2018·No. 855 MDA 2018·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

N.F. N/K/A N.H. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

Appellant :

:

v. :

:

B.F. :

:

Appellee : No. 855 MDA 2018

Appeal from the Order Entered May 16, 2018 in the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County Civil Division at No(s): 2013-00148

BEFORE: SHOGAN, J., NICHOLS, J. and STRASSBURGER, J.* MEMORANDUM BY STRASSBURGER, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 30, 2018 N.F. n/k/a N.H. (Mother) appeals from the order entered May 16, 2018, in the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County, which awarded primary physical custody of her sons, G.F., born in June 2011, and C.J.F., born in July 2012 (collectively, Children) to their father, B.F. (Father).1 We affirm.

We summarize the relevant facts and procedural history of this case as follows. Mother and Father are former spouses who married in August 2008. Mother filed a complaint in divorce in January 2013, which included a count requesting custody of Children. The parties agreed to a memorandum of understanding, entered as an order of court on April 2, 2013, pursuant to

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1C.J.F. is not Father’s biological son. Although C.J.F. was born during Mother’s marriage to Father, and is therefore Father’s child legally, the parties agree that he is the biological son of J.M., with whom Mother had an extramarital affair.

which Father received partial physical custody of Children each weekend. The memorandum provided that Father would have custody from 6:00 p.m. Friday until 5:30 p.m. Monday, except for the second weekend of each month, during which Father would have custody from 5:00 p.m. Sunday until 5:30 p.m. Monday.2 The order did not address legal custody, but Father and Mother shared legal custody pursuant to a series of interim court orders entered prior to the memorandum of understanding. The trial court entered a divorce decree in October 2015.

On March 22, 2017, Mother filed a petition to modify custody. The trial court ordered the parties to mediation, where they entered into an additional memorandum of understanding making slight changes to the existing custody arrangement. The court entered the memorandum as an order of court on June 2, 2017.

Relevant to this appeal, Mother filed a second petition for modification of custody on March 2, 2018. Therein, she averred that C.J.F., who was five years old at the time, had disclosed being the victim of sexual abuse by his paternal cousin, C.M.F., who was twelve years old. She averred that

2The order provided that the parties would share physical custody equally if Father was laid off or his work schedule changed such that he worked daylight hours. In that case, Father would have custody from 5:00 p.m. every other Sunday until 5:00 p.m. the following Wednesday. Immediately after that Wednesday, Father would have custody from 5:00 p.m. Friday until 5:00 p.m. Sunday. By the time of the hearing in this matter, the parties were operating on a shared physical custody schedule.

Children’s paternal grandparents babysat them while Father was at work, and that the abuse occurred while Children were in the paternal grandparents’ care. She requested that Father have custody only when he is not working and able to care for Children himself.3 The trial court conducted a hearing on Mother’s petition on May 1, 2018.

The court first heard the testimony of Mother. Mother focused her testimony on the aftermath of C.J.F.’s sexual abuse allegations. She criticized Father’s response to the allegations, saying that he and his family do not believe C.J.F. N.T., 5/1/2018, at 16. She admitted that Children and Youth Services (CYS) deemed the allegations unfounded after an investigation but emphasized that an investigation by the State Police remains ongoing. Id. at 37.

Concerning her own response to C.J.F.’s allegations, Mother described an incident that took place following Children’s baseball game the weekend prior to the hearing. The game occurred during Father’s period of custody and Father’s brothers, Mi.F., who is C.M.F.’s father, and Ma.F., were present. After the game, as the Children were playing in a nearby playground, Mother asked Father to tell Mi.F. to leave. Id. at 43. This sparked an argument during which Mother began yelling while Father loaded Children into his car. Id. at 44. Mother then followed Father’s car for an unspecified distance and called

3 Mother also filed an emergency petition for special relief requesting that Children have no contact with their paternal grandparents pending an investigation of C.J.F.’s allegations. The trial court scheduled a hearing on Mother’s petition but the record does not reveal the existence of an order granting or denying her requested relief.

the State Police, sending them to Father’s home to ensure that Children were safe. Id. at 45.

Mother further testified that she created a post on Facebook warning that “people needed to keep their kid away from” C.M.F. Id. at 39. Mother claimed that her post was a “general comment,” and did not provide identifying information for C.M.F. Id. at 43. However, when confronted with the text of the post on cross-examination, she admitted that she described C.M.F. as an “evil child” and did in fact provide his bus number, grade, and school. Id. at 52-53. Father’s counsel also questioned Mother about a voicemail that C.J.F. left Father using Mother’s phone, during which he stated that he did not want to visit Father anymore.4 Mother claimed that Children know the password to her phone and that they have access to it “all the time.” Id. at 69-70. She denied that she was present during the phone call or knew that it had taken place. Id. at 94-95. However, she insisted that C.J.F. demands frequently that he no longer visit Father. Id. at 95.

The trial court then heard the testimony of Father. Father’s testimony focused on his belief that Mother filed her petition for modification of custody out of spite rather than concern for Children’s safety. Father testified that he cooperated with Mother to address C.J.F.’s allegations by alerting CYS and Mi.F. Id. at 105-06. He also agreed that the Children should stay away from

C.M.F. until the allegations were resolved. Id. at 108. However, he

4The voicemail was not included in the certified record but its contents are undisputed.

complained that Mother began using the allegations as an excuse to request that Children not spend time with him, their paternal grandparents, or C.M.F.’s parents. Id.

The trial court continued the custody hearing on May 15, 2018, during which it heard further testimony from Father. Father expressed concern that Mother may have caused C.J.F. to fabricate the allegations of sexual abuse. Id. at 22-23. He explained that Mother made statements to him indicating that she intended to take Children away and move in with her boyfriend in Maryland. Id. at 28-30.

Next, Mother presented the testimony of her boyfriend, M.S., and the Children’s maternal step-grandfather, R.M., while Father presented testimony from Mi.F. and Children’s paternal grandfather, F.F. Of significance here, Mi.F. provided further testimony concerning the incident at the playground following the Children’s baseball game. Mi.F. recalled that Mother threatened C.M.F. during the incident, stating that C.M.F. “is gonna get what is coming to him,” and “that it’s going to be on the news.” Id. at 80.

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N.F. n/k/a N.H. v. B.F, (Pa. Ct. App. 2018).

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