In Re Rebecca B.

611 N.Y.S.2d 831 (1994)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

H and W divorced, and the Family Court in 1987 determined that the mother should have custody. In 1992 W discovered that H and the child had been sleeping in the same bed. W motioned to have supervised visitation. The Clinical Director of the Family Court's Mental Health Service met with the child on three occasions for a total of three hours and with her and each parent for about forty minutes. He also had met with each parent separately for about seven hours. He concluded that the child's best interests required the transfer of custody to H with liberal visitation for W noting that H was a much less detrimental influence on the child than was W, that he was less likely to cause long-term harm to her than was the mother that the child perceived him as more loving than her mother and that she had a more profound bond with him. The child made preferred to live with H; the mother's spanking, slapping, and locking of the child in her room was difficult for the child to comprehend. Another psychiatrist recommended H for the 'main reason' that W tried so to exclude H from the child's life; he believed that H as the custodial parent would give better access to the noncustodial parent. From age seven to eight the child had slept with H on overnight visits, but there had been no suggestion of any improper action by H, and the practice had ceased. A supervising social worker employed by the Legal Aid Society, also recommended that custody be transferred to H. The court denied H’s petition and affirmed sole custody to W. H appealed.