A New Jersey man who has been fighting since 2004 to regain custody of his 8-year-old son, who has been held by another family in Brazil, fears that the longer the case drags on, the smaller are his chances of success.
“I don’t know how long this has to keep going on,” David Goldman told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Friday from Rio de Janeiro. “I know if the other side has their way, it will continue forever. But it’s got to end. It’s gone on way too long to begin with … Time isn’t our friend, and they know that.”
Goldman was referring to the Brazilian family that has claimed his son, Sean, as their own despite a New Jersey court ruling and international treaties and laws that affirm Goldman’s right to custody. After years in local courts, Goldman’s case is now in the Brazilian federal court system.
One-way trip
In 2004, Goldman’s wife, Bruna, a native of Brazil, took Sean, who was then 4, on what was to be a two-week trip to visit family in Brazil. Once there, she informed her husband that she would not return to New Jersey and was keeping Sean with her.
A New Jersey court ruled that Bruna Goldman had to return to the United States with Sean for a custody hearing. The mother ignored the orders, divorced Goldman in absentia, and married a Brazilian lawyer from a prominent and politically connected family.
That family says that Goldman never attempted to visit Sean. But he says that he made at least eight trips to Brazil and was denied any access for four years except for a few fleeting phone calls.
Late last summer, Bruna died in childbirth, and her Brazilian husband moved to adopt Sean and remove Goldman’s name from the boy’s birth certificate.