Sean Goldman allegedly wants to stay in Brazil

Sean and his father David Goldman. (Family photo)

A 9-year-old boy at the center of an international custody battle told a psychologist he wants to stay with his stepfamily in Brazil rather than return to the U.S. with his biological father, according to a transcript of the interview as reported by AP.

In the transcript, released by the Brazilian family's lawyers on Wednesday, Sean Goldman tells the psychologist that if he is sent back to New Jersey to be with David Goldman he will "break down totally."

"I want to stay here in Brazil," the 9-year-old repeats in the interview.

I'll believe it when I see Sean himself say that on live TV.

The interview with Sean Goldman was conducted Monday by psychologist Terezinha Feres-Carneiro in a Rio de Janeiro hospital. It wasn't immediately clear who paid for the psychologist's services.

I think we know who paid for that interview.

When asked to draw a picture of his family, the boy drew only his stepfather, sister and Brazilian grandparents.

What exactly was he asked to draw? In what terms? He lives with them, so of course he's going to draw them when asked to draw his family or house, not his father in New Jersey with whom he hasn't lived for five years.

The transcript's release follows comments last week by David Goldman that a hearing in Brazil had made public an issue that he said he had been legally barred from discussion previously: "The psychological damage that has been inflicted on my son is finally out in the open."

"There's no words to describe the anxiety and the pain that I feel from that," he said.

Goldman's lawyer told the judges about reports by three court-appointed psychologists who found Sean was suffering.

Let's not forget that it was the mother who basically kidnapped Sean, took him to a strange land with people who speak another language, probably poisoned his mind about his father and relatives in the state, put him in the hands of a gangster stepfather who couldn't possibly care about this kid anywhere near as much as his father.

In 2004, Sean's mother, Bruna Bianchi, took him for a two-week vacation to her native Brazil and never returned. She divorced David Goldman in Brazil and married Rio de Janeiro lawyer Joao Paulo Lins e Silva.

She died last year, and a Rio state court granted Lins e Silva temporary custody of Sean.

Earlier this month, a lower court in Brazil later ruled that Sean Goldman be returned to the U.S., but that decision was suspended after a petition was filed arguing that removing Sean from his current family environment would hurt the boy.

Last week, Brazil's Supreme Court rebuffed the petition, instead ruling the decision on the boy's fate must be made by a federal court.

What a mess. I can only imagine the anguish this man, David Goldman, has had to endure for five years now. If there is a hell, she's there, if you ask me.

Sources: The Associated Press, USA Today
Copyright © 2009

Brazil court blocks father-son reunion

I hate to say it, but I knew it.

It was too soon to claim victory Monday, when a Brazilian federal court ruled in favor of David Goldman to be reunited with his son after a four-year custody battle.

The federal court ordered the boy to be handed over to him today at a U.S. consulate in Rio de Janeiro, but Brazil's supreme court agreed late Tuesday to hear a challenge to the case, AP reported Wednesday.

I'm almost speechless--almost. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Goldman rushed to Brazil earlier this week, hoping to bring home the son who has become the center of an ongoing custody dispute and debate over whether Brazilian courts or international law can determine what's best for the child, AP reported. Instead, Goldman may be heading home to New Jersey like he has many times during these last four years of trying to get his son back from his ex-wife's husband.

"This isn't good, this isn't good at all," Goldman told NBC's Today show Wednesday. "He's got to come home with me. He is in a very unhealthy environment and this has to stop."

Both sides in the multiyear custody fight say they want what's best for 9-year-old Sean Goldman. He's been living in Brazil since 2004, when his Brazilian mother, Bruna, took (kidnapped) him on vacation to visit her relatives and never returned. She divorced David Goldman in Brazil and married Rio de Janeiro lawyer Joao Paulo Lins e Silva. She died last year of complications from the birth of another child, and Sean has been living with his stepfather.

Goldman's attorney, Patricia Apy, says Sean's Brazilian relatives blocked a court-ordered visit he had scheduled with his son for Wednesday, AP reported.

Apy says they were told the boy was too traumatized by the ongoing controversy, which has garnered international headlines and reached the highest levels of the Brazilian and U.S. governments, according to the report.

"David is extremely reluctant to attempt to force access when he knows the histrionics that these people are subjecting him to," Apy said.

Sean's Brazilian relatives, and the group behind the latest supreme court challenge, counter that removing the boy from the environment he has lived in since he was 4 years old would traumatize him the most, AP reported.

The case took on international diplomatic overtones this spring when the U.S. Congress called on Brazil to permit the boy's return. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made the same request and President Barack Obama discussed the matter with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when he visited Washington earlier this year, according to the report.

The so-called Brazilian relatives reportedly are gangsters with connections in the media, which they blocked from covering the story, and the courts. So there is no way for Goldman to obtain justice there.

Obama, Clinton, the U.S. Congress...and Brazil still won't return son to father? How much in aid and loans have we given that country? Hmm.

It's time for a dose of CIA...or some Voodoo, if you ask me.

Source: Me, The Associated Press
Copyright © 2009

Goldman might finally get his son back

David Goldman's fight to get his son back has been the subject of several investigative journalism TV shows and interviews. (CNN photo).

The very handsome and devoted New Jersey man whose efforts to gain custody of his son--whom he adored, just watch the home videos--being held in Brazil attracted international attention may have finally gotten his wish.

David Goldman's lawyer, Patricia Apy, said Monday night that a Brazilian federal court has ruled that Goldman's son should be returned to the U.S., CNN reported.

I certainly hope that this time it's for real and this man will be reunited with his son after his now-deceased ex-wife (I'm sorry, but...what a bitch!) and her Brazilian husband, who, after her death, had the nerve to file for custody of the kid. All of this while Goldman begged to see his kid to no avail.

Apy said she found out Monday afternoon about the court's decision, which calls for 8-year-old Sean Goldman to be turned over to the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday. Apy said David Goldman is traveling to Brazil and expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro early Tuesday morning, CNN reported.

Sean's mother, who was Brazilian, divorced Goldman and returned to Brazil with Sean in 2004. She died in 2008 while giving birth to another child. Sean was was being raised in Brazil by his stepfather. (Right: family photo)

Apy said Goldman was "very happy" at the news, and that it had been "a long five years," CNN reported. I for one hope the courts will finally hand this child over to his father.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to the case Monday, telling reporters, "I also wanted just to take this opportunity to recognize the decision by the Brazilian federal court today ordering a young American boy, Sean Goldman, to be reunited with his father, David. It's taken a long time for this day to come, but we will work with the Goldman family and the Brazilian government, with the goal of ensuring this young boy's return."

Apy said she had not received a copy of the Brazilian court decision but expected to get one on Tuesday.

All that's left to see is whether or not the this will actually happen. Somehow, I doubt it.

The stepfather hasn't kept his word in the past when it came to scheduled Coleman-Sean son visits. Apparently, the daughter he had with Sean's mother isn't enough for him, and he has done everything in his power to make sure Coleman never sees his son again. Therefore, I won't be surprised if the guy somehow appeals this decision or just doesn't show up Wednesday.

And if that happens, the U.S. government should take some definite action and fuck diplomacy, if you ask me.

Source: CNN
Copyright © 2009