The parties’ 12-year-old child had lived with Petitioner Father in Cyprus under a court order since the parties’ divorce in 2014, which granted the Father sole custody. Because of the Father’s job, he would often return home very late, which routinely left the child in his paternal grandparents’ care, even overnight. Otherwise, the Father was an active parent, engaged in the school’s PTO, the child’s education, his screen time, and his homework. The parents agreed to a 6-week vacation for the child with the child’s Mother in Petaluma, CA in summer 2022. About 2 weeks after arriving in CA, the Mother contacted the Father and indicated that the child wanted to remain in CA. Mother kept texting Father in a fairly one-sided conversation asking for input on how things in Cyprus might change if the child returned there, but she focused heavily on why the child should remain in CA. The Mother quickly reverted to adopting the child’s views of staying in CA and arguing those positions for herself. The Father refused to engage in the discussions about CA. By July 30th, the Mother began making arrangements in CA for the child to remain. The Mother was also concerned that the child might have mild autism, but didn’t get him tested (until September, at which time autism was confirmed, albeit without input from the father, or school in Cyprus). During their calls, the Father tried to engage the son in discussions, acknowledged the importance of the discussions, and said they would talk when he traveled to CA to pick him up, so they could speak in person. Upon arrival in early August, the Father and son spoke multiple times, including for a few hours in Greek. The Father thought they made progress, but the child later said it was a horrible waste of time. The Father kept responding saying they would continue to talk, but he would pick up the child for their flight back to Cyprus. At the exchange, the child refused to go. There were harsh words exchanged, including the Mother accusing the Father of having previously kicked her out of Cyprus. The Father left (going to stay with a friend in California), and the Mother enrolled the child in public school a few days later. The Father alerted the school he objected to the child’s enrollment, so the child began attending an online school. The Father filed the Hague Abduction Convention return petition a week after the failed handoff. The court and both parents’ lawyers interviewed the child in chambers without the parents.
The only arguable grave risk might relate to the child’s autism, whether there are sufficient resources in Cyprus to attend to his needs, and whether the father would actually follow through with treatment since he seemed to deny the autism (at least at first). Ultimately, the Father promised to get the child the help he needs. He had raised this child for a significant period of the child’s life, without any seemingly severe psychological ramifications. The most salient point, however, relates to the role that the child’s Mother had in reinforcing the child’s desire to remain in CA. It is clear the child objects to returning to Cyprus. He has said that he will run away if anyone tries to force him back. The child expressed clear reasons for objecting to Cyprus. “In articulating his concerns, however, [the child] has been using [Mother]’s language in a way that calls into question whether his position is the result of consideration by a mature child.” “They [the child’s choice of words] make it clear that [Mother] was working with [child] to develop the case for staying—dramatizing returning to Cyprus as an experience that would “break” him and characterizing the stress he felt from things his grandparents said and did as “psychological damage.” “[Mother]’s words and ideas flowed so directly through [child] that [Father] was receiving essentially identical messages from each of them simultaneously. That is the mark of an immature child adopting his parent’s views instead of coming to his own.” The court concluded the child was not mature, and ordered the child back to Cyprus.
