Jr's custody issue arising from Ron's arrest

[butterfly1978]

The reason I had said that Crystal shouldn't be apart of this is because, RON and MISTY not CRYSTAL was trafficking drugs, and if LE thought that she was involved I beleive LE would be giving her and the Griffis the same kind of hell they are giving Ron and Misty.
As far as the drug test that was given to Crystal that she supposedly failed let me tell you a quick story. I went and applied for a job, the drug tested me right on the spot, before they would even consider me for the interview, well I failed. I was Pizzed to say the least. I demanded that they do a blood test because I KNEW I did not and had not done any type of drugs. They told me to go immediately to the hospital pay and have a blood test drawn and if I passed they would reimburse me the money I paid for the drug test and continue with the hiring process so thats what I did. When my blood test came back, I was clean what showed up in my pee test was allergy medicine. I got my money back an apology and the job. My point is if Crystal failed the drug test then she would have had to prove she was not using in order for them to give her junior, and since she has him now I beleive that the same thing that happened to me probably happened to her. So lets not jump to conclusions.
As far as Crystals ex lawyer goes, I would not jump to quick to beleive everything she says there have been alot of drama around her, and cobra, and others so I would take alot of things as a a grain of salt.

 

[butterfly1978]

I haven't seen Haleigh mentioned in any of the articles that I have read...only RJ.

I would think that until Haleigh is found they can not grant custody, considering they do not know where she is.

 

[Bobbisangel]

If that is the case why was Crystle given custody? Dysfunctional adults are in that family as well as drug abusers.TN never has been in jail never arrested.IMO it has been very poor logic for her to have custody she did not seem to want either of hers kids before Haleigh went missing and she has failed a drug test since getting him back.She is no role model no matter how many here want her to be.Healthy minded functional adults is not where JR is now IMO.

I have dealt with the family court system and for a mother to lose custody is extremely rare.It takes a lot more then missed mailings to lose your children especially when the father has had dealings with LE.The Cummings do not have the money or the connections to be able to have a judge in their pocket IMO Those 2 kids were taken away from her not because Ron had a job but because she was an unfit mother and after losing them she did nothing to gain them back till she was in the public eye.Family Court is very bias against the fathers she had to have been much worse then him or she would not have lost them in the first place.

Crystal wasn't even trying to get RJ until Ron was busted for selling drugs and she would have been the next person on the list for RJ to go to. When she was in the media and had that attorney they talked about her going for custody but that was only in the media. She didn't do anything about getting custody of him. She just stepped forward because Ron is locked up. She did flunk a drug test and is in outpatient treatment I believe it is 3 hours a day. I don't know how long she has to go but I will bet that she goes back to using. She's been a drug user since her and Ron were together...a long time and it is going to take more then a little time in outpatient treatment for her to get it together.

 

[Bobbisangel]

Do you happen to know the names of the drugs Chloe was so addicted to when she was born and can you provide a link that states how long she was kept in the hospital to undergo withdrawal treatment for the addiciton before DCF allowed her to go home with her mother?

I believe she said "IF" the baby was born addicted. I guess you missed the "IF"

 

[Baxter]

Crystal wasn't even trying to get RJ until Ron was busted for selling drugs and she would have been the next person on the list for RJ to go to. When she was in the media and had that attorney they talked about her going for custody but that was only in the media. She didn't do anything about getting custody of him. She just stepped forward because Ron is locked up. She did flunk a drug test and is in outpatient treatment I believe it is 3 hours a day. I don't know how long she has to go but I will bet that she goes back to using. She's been a drug user since her and Ron were together...a long time and it is going to take more then a little time in outpatient treatment for her to get it together.

KP has been gone for some time. How do you know she hasn't been trying to get custody?

Also, how do you know anything about her drug tests or treatment?

 

[butterfly1978]

Guys I think we better stop discussing this before tempers start flaring.
I'm not sure how this got turned into a for or against Crystal thread.

 

[Gracenote]

Crystal wasn't even trying to get RJ until Ron was busted for selling drugs and she would have been the next person on the list for RJ to go to. When she was in the media and had that attorney they talked about her going for custody but that was only in the media. She didn't do anything about getting custody of him. She just stepped forward because Ron is locked up. She did flunk a drug test and is in outpatient treatment I believe it is 3 hours a day. I don't know how long she has to go but I will bet that she goes back to using. She's been a drug user since her and Ron were together...a long time and it is going to take more then a little time in outpatient treatment for her to get it together.

There are an awful lot of former/recovering addicts and alcoholics (and ex-smokers of which I am one) A lot of people do it, they overcome their addiction and with vigilance and care they defeat the junkie thinking that can cause relapse.

I don't know what will happen with Crystal but I will come down on the side of her getting and staying clean for good. Might as well; what I say or think isn't going to make a bit of difference.

 

[Gracenote]

Guys I think we better stop discussing this before tempers start flaring.
I'm not sure how this got turned into a for or against Crystal thread.

I hear you. I'm so sleepy! Good night all.

 

[Bobbisangel]

KP has been gone for some time. How do you know she hasn't been trying to get custody?

Also, how do you know anything about her drug tests or treatment?

If she had been trying to get custody it would have been in a video or in the news just like it is now.

I read what her own mother said about her drug test and her treatment...it was in the paper. Guess you must have missed it.

 

[Baxter]

Guys I think we better stop discussing this before tempers start flaring.
I'm not sure how this got turned into a for or against Crystal thread.

Your right. As soon as incriminating information comes out about RC, some people find it necessary to follow it up with the same for CS. It doesn't matter what the subject is. It is always tit for tat.

 

[Baxter]

If she had been trying to get custody it would have been in a video or in the news just like it is now.

I read what her own mother said about her drug test and her treatment...it was in the paper. Guess you must have missed it.

It never detailed what the treatment was.

She could have been working on custody, and it not be in the paper.

 

[Donjeta]

I just noticed that said Sykes "declined to comment". That is a lot different than saying "no" or even "he** no."

Thank you for posting.

What did she decline to comment?

 

[MADJGNLAW]

KP has been gone for some time. How do you know she hasn't been trying to get custody?

Also, how do you know anything about her drug tests or treatment?

CS fired KP last year and sent her a letter for KP not to contact her in the future. At that time it was said that CS wanted to file for custody and have the child support amended and KP did not follow through. It got ugly after that. KP did a 360 on CS. I am not sure who the new attorney is at this time or if she even has one. TJ has been the only one to report anything about a failed drug test.. Other media outlets have reported that CS has temporary custody of JR. I am assuming that DCF has CS on a program to help her get on her feet and get her the help that she needs. I will not comment any further because I don't want the thread to turn into a bashing thread.
raying:My heart aches for Haleigh and JR. and I wish there was something I could do, but there isn't anything I can do from here except pray. I think it's important that we have faith and put all of this in God's hands and pray for JR, and Haleigh's safe return.raying:

Posted: Saturday, 06 February 2010

Confirmed Per TJ and the Email Marie sent him: Haleigh's Mom Failed Drug Test, Keeps Child
"Snip" http://www.thesky973.com/pages/6301020.php
Marie Griffis responded:

"I will say yes that is true, all the other stuff on the internet came from the ones scorned (that is all I will say about them). Please let everyone know that Crystal is doing what DCF wants her too, Crystal has needed these therapies that they are offering she has dealt with a lot losing a child a second time and maybe this time peemanently and on top of that, everyone in the home will receive some type of therapy.

Chad's children have been affected by HaLeigh's disappearance, they are all like brothers and sisters. Update on Butterbean he is doing great he is very happy and loving being with his Mommy he gets very upset when she has to be away from him from 3hrs to go to her classes but he understands why. We have explained everything to him that we feel he understands, he just simply wants to be with his Mommy."

Thanks Marie

Crystal Sheffield, the mother of Haleigh and Ronald Jr., has been granted temporary custody of her son Ronald Cummings Jr. after an emergency shelter hearing Thursday. The hearing was held after the arrest of the boy's father Ronald Cummings Sr. on drug charges. http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=151021&catid=3

 

[MADJGNLAW]

This must be a new law. I have never heard of a law saying Grandparents have visiting rights or any rights.

Court may grant rights at times under certain conditions but as far as being on the books as law in general, I am not aware of it.

Haven't heard of Grandmas or Grandpas hauling anyone into court because their children won't let them visit.

Grandparents have some rights. I don't know much about FL though. But from my past experience there is a Law (US Supreme Court case (Troxel)), that comes to play when a care giver has provided care for the children for a certain amount of time and that is how grandparents and care givers will sometimes end up with custody of the children.
I am not sure how long GGMS cared for Haleigh and Jr. and if this law would even apply in FL considering the circumstances.
I do feel that CS is in for a long recovery not only because of her personal issues, but losing Haleigh. (I could not imagine how I would feel if my child was missing, I would be devastated that I know, maybe even in a loony bin.) I know most didn't feel she spent enough time with the children but we don't know the reasons behind it. There are many parents that alienate the children from the other parent/grandparent for their own selfish reasons. One thing that we know is that CS did see her children every other weekend as she was allowed, wanted extra time per Ron but couldn't due to the children having to go to school (which that I do understand, it just shows that CS did want to spend more time with her children). I have to give her credit for that because some parents don't even bother to visit with their children at all.

Child Visitation Laws
All 50 states currently have some type of "grandparent visitation" statute through which grandparents, and sometimes others (foster parents and stepparents, for example), can ask a court to grant them the legal right to maintain their relationships with loved children. But state laws vary greatly when it comes to the crucial details, such as who can visit and under what circumstances.

"Snip" http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/article-29548.html

Approximately 20 states have "restrictive" visitation statutes, meaning that generally only grandparents can get a court order for visitation -- and only if the child's parents are divorcing or if one or both parents have died. However, most states have more permissive visitation laws that allow courts to consider a visitation request even without the death of a parent or the dissolution of the family, so long as visitation would serve the best interests of the child. And, in a restrictive state, even divorced parents who agree about preventing grandparent visitation have the right to keep the grandparents away.

Some states allow caretaking adults besides grandparents to make such a petition, usually requiring that the caretaker must have lived in the home with the child for a certain period of time in order to be able to file a request for visitation.

Both restrictive and permissive visitation statutes have been challenged in court by parents who argue that the laws are an infringement on parents' rights to raise their children as they see fit. Courts have made contradictory rulings.

"Snip"

The Florida Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional certain portions of the Florida statutes governing grandparent visitation. In the first finding, Beagle v. Beagle, the court decided that an intact family has the right to bar visits from grandparents. The second case, Von Eiff v. Azicri, involved a case in which a parent was deceased, but the surviving parent had remarried and had stopped the grandparents of the deceased from visiting. The court decided that the surviving parent had created an intact family, which then had the right to make that decision.

Three other court decisions have chipped away at the grandparent visitation statutes, but those statutes remain on the books because the Florida legislature has not removed them, nor have they enacted new laws. Opinions are divided about the validity of the Florida statutes in the wake of these Florida Supreme Court decisions. It is best to regard all statutes regarding grandparent visitation as unreliable until the Florida Legislature adopts new statutes. Grandparents seeking visitation rights in Florida must certainly seek the advice of a lawyer before deciding whether to proceed with a petition.


The existing statutes, whether applicable or not, instruct the courts to consider a lengthy list of factors in determining the best interests of the child. These factors include the willingness of the grandparent or grandparents to encourage a close relationship between the child and the parent or parents, the length and quality of the prior relationship between the child and the grandparent, the child's preference when he or she is old enough to express it, the mental and physical health of the child, the mental and physical health of the grandparent or grandparents and any other relevant factors. Great-grandparents are considered to have the same rights as grandparents.

See Florida statutes. http://grandparents.about.com/gi/o....pp_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0752/ch0752.htm


See also a report from the Florida Judiciary Committee about Grandparent Visitation.
http://grandparents.about.com/gi/o....te/reports/interim_reports/pdf/2009-120ju.pdf

 

[Zoemonster]

Why are there no brawls over Ronald's 3rd child?

 

[Boots-OK]

Speaking from personal experience here...

In today's world - many, many children would wind up in the DCF system if it weren't for grandparents (and, yes, great-grandparents) who will step up, put their retirement on hold, and start caring for little ones all over again. It is not an easy thing to do. Believe me!

I limit my comments on this thread for obvious biased reasons and .... I don't want a TO.

 

[LFlorida]

Well since TN has no police record or any complaints against her for abuse of children also she does not have any drug arrest ,she has never been arrested for having a drug house,why do you think she needs supervised visitation? She has been in his life steadily for years.

I do believe if you go down to Leesburg and check their archives, there's plenty of dirt to be had on Mz Teresa.

 

[Gracenote]

What did she decline to comment?

Good morning Donjeta The article said they asked GGM if she knew the narcotic trafficking was going on and she declined to comment. I wondered why she didn't answer "no".

 

[CarmelEyesD]

Because anything she says can and will be used against her?

 

[mikeysmommom]

I do believe if you go down to Leesburg and check their archives, there's plenty of dirt to be had on Mz Teresa.[/QUOTE

And how does this apply to the topic on hand?Just wondering:waitasec:
Until LE says she or her mother are involved in either the drug deals or Haleigh's disappearance and have charges put on them I for one will not sling mud at them.This thread is about a custody fight for Jr.IMO he deserves better then to be with a mom who didn't fight for him and Haleigh, and who was a deadbeat mom as far as child support goes.I will not cut her slack just because she is a female.She as well as Ron have failed those children.If she knew Ron was so bad how could she not have fought everyday to get them both back?Why did she have him father not 1 but 2 children?I have a really hard time believing she going to change and be the mother JR needs.