Legal Question in Family Law in California
Child Hidding
Can a parent who has physical custody but not legal custody take children and hide them from their birthmother legally.If the answer is no is there anything the mother can do have the abducting parent arrested if she did not realize until the children were 18 that it might be illegal for the other parent to hide her children from her for almost 16 years?I have been waiting since 1983 to find my children because I thought legally thet had to be over 18.I did not realize until I started looking on 10/22/99 that their father hiding my children from me when they were minors could of been illegal.The reason their father and I split up is because he was seeing prostitutes and I found child pornography in our home which he admitted was his.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child Hidding
In California it is a felony to hide a child from a parent or person who has custody of a child, or the right to visit with a child. As a parent you would have the right to either have custody and visitation unless there is a court order providing that the other parent has sole physical custody. Hiding the children from a person having the right to visitation is also a felony.
If there is a California custody and visitation order in California, and the children were in California when father took them, you can contact the district attorney in the county in which you lived for help. If he picked up the children in the other state and brought them to California, and is hiding them in California you may still be able to get help form the DA.
There would seem to be a problem if he legally picked up the chilren and California and took them to the other state. Then after being in the other state hid them, the criminal acti would not have occurred in California and the law of the other state would apply.
Your situation is very complex you should contact an attorney.
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