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Mother's Efforts to Undermine Dad Cost Her Custody

By John Caher
December 26, 2006

A woman who has persistently made unsubstantiated allegations that her former husband is a child molester was stripped of custody rights by a New York appellate court. The Appellate Division, Third Department, said Kristin F. Chase's relentless efforts to undermine her son's relationship with his father and 'her ongoing quest to brand [the father, John T. Chase] a pedophile' warrant an order granting the father sole legal and physical custody of the now 6-year-old boy. The decision in Chase v. Chase, 500656, is the latest development in a long-standing and especially bitter custody fight that has played out in both the courts and the media (NYLJ, Nov. 2, 2005).

The Case

Kristin Chase continues to allege that John Chase molested their son, even though a court found the charges unsubstantiated. Still, after an 11-day hearing, Columbia County Family Court, in September 2005, awarded Ms. Chase sole legal and physical custody of the boy, with 'great hesitation,' and established a visitation schedule for Mr. Chase. The court noted Ms. Chase's 'marked weakness[es]' as a parent, but deemed her the more appropriate parent for custody. Mr. Chase, records show, has a history of excessive drinking and at one point threatened to kill a sheriff's deputy and his family with anthrax.

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