When divorced Ohio parents receive an order from the court, disclosing details of a custody agreement, both parties are expected to comply with the order. However, there are times when one parent chooses to stray from some of the conditions of the formal child custody directive, leaving the other parent in a state of frustration and anger. One father has filed a lawsuit against a police department, claiming it is helping the mother violate a court-ordered child custody agreement.
The mother first defied the order by moving out of state. After a couple of years, the father says the mother and other family members began calling the police department, making false claims that he was harassing them. Even though the parents eventually agreed to a new visitation schedule, the harassment claims continued, and the mother refused to meet the terms of any court orders.
According to the lawsuit, one particular county police officer made threats to the father when he tried to spend time with his children. The officer allegedly said he did not care about the terms in the court order and he would arrest the father if he insisted on seeing his own children. The suit claims the entire police department chose to believe the complaints of his ex-wife and gave no regard to the court order.
Any stipulations of a court order pertaining to child custody should have the best interests of the child as the main consideration. Steps, such as documenting every violation of a current agreement, can be taken before returning to court for a re-evaluation of the case. An attorney in Ohio can give a client advice on specific measures to take while seeking a favorable judgement from the court.
