May 8th, 2014
Petitioners, Mother and Stepfather of twelve-year-old boy, appeal the circuit court's "Order Denying Petition for Adoption," wherein the court found that Respondent Father did not abandon the child because child support had been automatically deducted from his paycheck, despite the complete absence of contact with the child for several years and Father's prior conviction and incarceration for two counts of sexual abuse of another minor child in his care. The court concluded that West Virginia's adoption statutes do not provide the proper forum for the termination of Father's parental rights in this regard.
