Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994 TAG: 9407200029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
``The fact that a mother is a lesbian and has engaged in illegal sexual acts does not alone justify taking custody of a child from her,'' Judge Sam W. Coleman III wrote for the three-judge appellate panel, reversing the verdict of a lower court.
On Sept.7, Henrico County Circuit Judge Buford M. Parsons Jr. upheld a juvenile court decision that Sharon L. Bottoms, 24, was unfit to raise her son because she lived with her lover, April Wade, 28.
He awarded custody of the boy to Bottoms' mother, 43-year-old Kay Bottoms. The reversal on Tuesday left the grandmother ``distraught,'' said her lawyer, Richard R. Ryder.
``I think it's another demonstration of the general breakdown in morality in this state and in this country,'' Ryder said.
Kay Bottoms is likely to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, Ryder said. If that happens, he added, they will ask the court to let the boy, Tyler Doustou, stay with his grandmother until the final appeal runs its course.
The boy's father has not attempted to gain custody.
The appeals panel said that while Sharon Bottoms' performance as a parent was ``far from ideal'' - citing the facts that she was unemployed, had moved a number of times, twice spanked the boy hard enough to leave bruises and ``on occasion'' swore in his presence - she generally had been a caring mother.
And while oral sex is against the law in Virginia, the judges wrote that there is no evidence Sharon Bottoms ever exposed the child to sexual activity. They cited studies showing that merely being in the presence of a homosexual couple is not known to harm a child psychologically.
by CNB