Dad wins 6-day custody of son — but in Brazil

With Father’s Day approaching, a lawyer for the New Jersey dad fighting to get his young son returned from South America says he is doing “terrible” despite a judge’s ruling that he can live with the boy unsupervised six days a week — in Brazil.

Appearing on TODAY Friday, American attorney Patricia Apy said David Goldman is staying put until his lawyers here and in Brazil are certain that this latest ruling in the years-long international custody fight will not be scuttled by an appeal by the Brazilian man claiming legal custody of 9-year-old Sean Goldman.

“This child should be with his father ... we expect it will be appealed again. To send David down there and not have him see Sean is really problematic,” Apy told TODAY co-anchor Meredith Vieira. “We’re looking for an opportunity to visit more with Sean ... We have to be sure it is actually going to happen. We have to be sure it is going to be done safely.”

Troubling transcript
Goldman and his legal team are particularly troubled by a transcript released Wednesday of Sean’s videotaped statements that he wants to remain in Brazil. Apy said the boy is not mature enough to be asked to have a role in deciding where he should live — and that he’s particularly fragile in his position at the center of an international legal dispute.

“It’s a statement that was generated by taking this child, who is 9, to a psychiatric facility, hiding five witnesses behind a mirrored wall, and taping him for about 30 to 40 minutes,” Apy said. “It is outrageous beyond all reckoning ... This goes beyond the bounds.”

Goldman’s fight began in 2004 when Sean’s mother, Bruna Bianchi, took him for a vacation to her native Brazil and never returned. She later married a Rio de Janeiro lawyer and died last year giving birth to a daughter.

Video   Goldman: ‘I hope it’s over soon’ June 11: As David Goldman continues to fight for the return of his son to the U.S., Brazil's supreme court rebuffs a bid to block the boy’s return. Today show

The boy is now living with his mother’s new husband, Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, who wants to retain custody of Sean. Goldman, who lives in Tinton Falls, N.J., has been seeking custody of his son under the Hague Convention on international child abductions.

A lower court in Brazil ruled earlier this month that Sean must be returned to the U.S., but that decision was suspended by a Brazilian supreme court justice based on a petition filed by a political party that argued that removing Sean from his current family environment would hurt him.

Then, last week, Brazil’s supreme court rebuffed the bid to stop Sean from being taken to the United States, instead ruling that the decision on the boy’s fate must be made by a federal court. It’s not clear when that ruling may come.

A sad Father’s Day
Apy said she believes the Brazilian family is trying to take advantage of a provision in the Hague Convention that can give children a say in whether they should be returned to another country. But she said it does not apply in this case because of Sean’s young age and psychological fragility.

TODAY In happier times: David Goldman with his son, Sean, and his late wife Bruna.

“The psychological pressure it places on a child is so extreme,” she said.

But Sergio Tostes, the lawyer for Lins e Silva who plans to file the appeal, said Apy is misinterpreting the law. “There is no age limitation for a child to be heard, and, in fact, the provision says that if a child is able to express himself — even if he is only 5 years old, then his opinion must be heard and taken into consideration by the judge,” Tostes said.

While the courts sort it all out, David Goldman waits. Asked by Vieira how Goldman is doing during her appearance on TODAY, Apy said he is not doing well.

“Terrible. This is Father’s Day weekend coming up. It would be bad without all the issues, but it is brutal to be in the situation, as a dad, to see your child is being harmed and not to be able to do anything about it,” Apy said.

—John Springer, with additional reporting by The Associated Press

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