ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Sharon Bottoms, angry that a judge barred her lesbian lover from contact with her son, said Thursday she may revive her legal battle to win sole custody of the boy.
A court ruling Wednesday expanded Bottoms' visitation rights with Tyler Doustou, 5, but strictly barred her from seeing the boy in the presence of her partner, April Wade.
Both women said at a news conference they were angry about Henrico County Circuit Judge Buford Parsons' ruling. When asked if she would return to court and seek custody of Tyler, Bottoms said, ``Possibly. I can't predict the future.''
Bottoms dropped her bitter, three-year legal battle with her mother, Kay Bottoms, last week and asked instead for more lenient visitation rules.
Richard Ryder, Kay Bottoms' attorney, said he doubted Sharon Bottoms would resume the custody fight.
``They had sense enough to give up this time,'' Ryder said. ``If they start it again, they know they will be subjected to sanctions'' for pursuing a frivolous court case.
Ryder said Kay Bottoms may seek child support from her daughter. He said he did not know if she would seek support from the boy's father, who is divorced from Sharon Bottoms. The father has not been involved in Tyler's upbringing and was not involved in the custody case.
Parsons ruled Wednesday that Tyler may visit his mother in her apartment as long as Wade is not there. He also barred Wade from speaking to the boy by phone.
Sharon Bottoms also gets Tyler every other weekend, for extended Christmas and Thanksgiving visits, and for a week in the summer. She had been restricted to seeing the boy Mondays and Tuesdays away from her apartment.
Ryder said his client will follow the new visitation orders.
Sharon Bottoms lost custody of Tyler in 1993 when a judge said she was an unfit mother because she and Wade engaged in oral sex, a felony in Virginia.
A Virginia appeals court overturned the decision, but the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated it last year.
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Sharon Bottoms (left) and her partner, April Wade,by CNBare angry that a judge says Wade can't see Bottoms' son.