Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota
My son in law walked out on his wife and toddler son for a woman with VERY questionable morals...that's the nice way of describing her. She posts disgusting things on her internet pages and recently she posted a video of my then 2 year old grandson on her Facebook webpage with a VERY FOUL message to my daughter. Is that child exploitation?? Can we get a restraining order on her? Press charges??? What about the fact that my son in law allowed her to do that...is that child endangerment??? She is living with my daughters husband now.....neither one are divorced from their spouses yet. My son in law has totally abandoned his son for this woman. We don't know where they live at the moment and he is NOT PAYING ANY CHILD SUPPORT. It is very important that this woman NOT be allowed anywhere near my grandson when the divorce is final. I'm writing this because my daugher is at work and I just happened to stumble across this page in attempts to get definitions of child abandonment laws and child exploitation laws. In Minnesota how long must a parent have abandoned their child before it becomes an issue in child custody....my daughter wants total custody with visitation rights for the deadbeat father IF he wants to visit his son....he's made no attempts in months.
1 Answer from Attorneys
I am afraid that it is your son-in-law's child as well. As a result, if he permits the use of the photo, there is nothing you can do . It is not unlawful to postr such a photo and the communication is not harassing since your daughter has the choice to not go to the site or to read the posts. Posting a photo also does not constitute child endangerment.
The issues you raise are relevant only as part of a family court custody proceeding and each parent's ability to provide care for the minor child. The proper thing to do at this point would be toi commence a divorce action, determine custody and child support.
I am afraid that a court will also not preclude another adult from being around a minor child unless that person presents a danger to the child. Although a court may preclude contact during the pendency of divorce when the contact may be confusing to the child, after the divorce has been concluded, it is unlikely such a preclusion would continue.
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