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BBC MUNDO RADIO
(April 5) --The familial saga, along with its legal maneuvering, continues.
The grandmother of Sean Goldman, the 9-year-old at the center of a bitter, five-year custody dispute, says the boy's father, David Goldman, is denying her the right to visit or speak to the child now since Goldman brought him from Brazil to live in New Jersey.
According to The Associated Press, Silvana Bianchi, Sean's grandmother and Goldman's former mother-in-law, filed an emergency appeal with a U.S. judge so she could visit the boy on a recent trip to New Jersey. The request was denied, but a visitation hearing has been scheduled for May.
The latest move follows an acrimonious pattern that dates back to the marital split between Goldman and his now deceased ex-wife, Bruna Bianchi. After separating, Bianchi took her son to live with her in her native Brazil in 2004. The couple finalized their divorce there, and Bianchi re-married.
In 2008, Bianchi died giving birth to her second child. Goldman made repeated attempts to visit Sean but was refused visitation until U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., started accompanying him on his trips, AP reported.
Pitting Goldman against his former wife's parents, the high-profile case was debated in Brazilian courts for more than a year, until Goldman was finally granted custody. He flew his son back to the United States on Dec. 24, 2009, and refused Silvana Bianchi's request to accompany the boy on the flight.
Now, Bianchi is accusing Goldman of going back on his word to allow the child's grandparents to visit or speak with him at his new home. In an interview with Brazil's Globo TV, Bianchi said it has been over a month since she last spoke with Sean.
"I told (Sean) we are doing everything we can to go visit him," Bianchi said of her last conversation with the boy. "I said, 'I miss you very much.' He asked me, 'When will you come?'"
Goldman has declined requests for interviews, but his lawyer describes the child as adjusting to his new home and doing well in school.
"We requested from Silvana and her husband in January that there be a process to deal with the ongoing family relationship, which is complex because David is getting to know Sean," Patricia Apy, Goldman's lawyer, told the AP. "That was not a process that they were willing to be involved in."
The grandmother of Sean Goldman, the 9-year-old at the center of a bitter, five-year custody dispute, says the boy's father, David Goldman, is denying her the right to visit or speak to the child now since Goldman brought him from Brazil to live in New Jersey.
According to The Associated Press, Silvana Bianchi, Sean's grandmother and Goldman's former mother-in-law, filed an emergency appeal with a U.S. judge so she could visit the boy on a recent trip to New Jersey. The request was denied, but a visitation hearing has been scheduled for May.
Felipe Dana, AP
Sean Goldman's grandmother, Silvana Bianchi, claims the boy's father, David Goldman, won't let her visit or speak with her grandson. Bianchi, here at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro last year, said in an interview that she hasn't spoken to Sean in more than a month.
The latest move follows an acrimonious pattern that dates back to the marital split between Goldman and his now deceased ex-wife, Bruna Bianchi. After separating, Bianchi took her son to live with her in her native Brazil in 2004. The couple finalized their divorce there, and Bianchi re-married.
In 2008, Bianchi died giving birth to her second child. Goldman made repeated attempts to visit Sean but was refused visitation until U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., started accompanying him on his trips, AP reported.
Pitting Goldman against his former wife's parents, the high-profile case was debated in Brazilian courts for more than a year, until Goldman was finally granted custody. He flew his son back to the United States on Dec. 24, 2009, and refused Silvana Bianchi's request to accompany the boy on the flight.
Now, Bianchi is accusing Goldman of going back on his word to allow the child's grandparents to visit or speak with him at his new home. In an interview with Brazil's Globo TV, Bianchi said it has been over a month since she last spoke with Sean.
"I told (Sean) we are doing everything we can to go visit him," Bianchi said of her last conversation with the boy. "I said, 'I miss you very much.' He asked me, 'When will you come?'"
Goldman has declined requests for interviews, but his lawyer describes the child as adjusting to his new home and doing well in school.
"We requested from Silvana and her husband in January that there be a process to deal with the ongoing family relationship, which is complex because David is getting to know Sean," Patricia Apy, Goldman's lawyer, told the AP. "That was not a process that they were willing to be involved in."
