29 January 2007

NEW YORK — A Spanish woman was jailed in the US for illegally taking her daughter to her country.

Maria Jose Carrascosa, a lawyer from Valencia, absconded to Spain with her daughter Victoria months after her divorce from American Peter W. Innes.

The case is an example of what can go wrong when marriages break down and both partners from different nations both seek custody of a child and the freedom to live with that child where they please.

Innes pressed charges against Carrascosa in New Jersey, who returned to the US and made a court appearance there last August.

A judge had her passport seized and ordered that she effect the return of the child within 10 days.

Carrascosa fled but was arrested in New York in late November and has been in prison.

In a ruling issued last December, a judge said Carrascocsa never made any complaint against Innes until she left with their daughter.

Carrascosa's health reportedly has declined during her time in jail.

Innes said on Monday he felt "horrible" about that, but says that is not his fault.

"I did not put her in jail. I have done nothing wrong," he said. "She herself has the keys to get out of jail, if she wants."

He said he is willing to sit down with Maria Jose and her family in an effort to reach a "reasonable" solution that would allow him contact with his daughter.

"I want her to have a happy childhood, with a father and a mother," he said.

The couple met via Internet in 1999 and after a relatively brief courtship wed.

But their relationship broke down five years later.

In their divorce, custody was granted to Carrascosa, with the stipulation that Innes would have Victoria on weekends.

The divorce agreement banned either parent from taking the girl out of the US without the written permission of the other, a condition Carrascosa's flagrantly violated when she left the country with her daughter for Spain three months after the divorce.

Innes spoke publicly to rebut "the lies" he says Carrascosa's family is attempting to spread about him, presumably to paint him as an unfit parent.

"They have accused me of being a drug trafficker, an arms trafficker, of trying to murder my ex-wife, of having multiple identities. That is all false. I have never been arrested in my life," said the graphic designer.

He says his former wife's legal strategy may be designed to achieve an annulment of their four-year marriage, which ended in divorce in 2004.

Innes said this would render non-binding the pre-nuptial agreement the couple signed in which they explicitly acknowledge the jurisdiction of New Jersey for any eventual dispute between them.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news

29 January 2007

NEW YORK — A Spanish woman was jailed in the US for illegally taking her daughter to her country.

Maria Jose Carrascosa, a lawyer from Valencia, absconded to Spain with her daughter Victoria months after her divorce from Peter W. Innes.

The case is an example of what can go wrong when marriages break down and both partners from different nations both seek

custody of a child and the freedom to live with that child where they please.

Innes pressed charges against Carrascosa in New Jersey, who returned to the US and made a court appearance there last August.

A judge had her passport seized and ordered that she effect the return of the child within 10 days.

Carrascosa fled but was arrested in New York in late November and has been in prison.

In a ruling issued last December, a judge said Carrascocsa never made any complaint against Innes until she left with their

daughter.

Carrascosa's health reportedly has declined during her time in jail.

Innes said he feels "horrible" about that, but says that is not his fault.

"I did not put her in jail. I have done nothing wrong," he said. "She herself has the keys to get out of jail, if she wants."

He said he is willing to sit down with Maria Jose and her family in an effort to reach a "reasonable" solution that would

allow him contact with his daughter.

"I want her to have a happy childhood, with a father and a mother," he said.

The couple met via Internet in 1999 and after a relatively brief courtship wed.

But their relationship broke down soon after .

In their divorce, custody was granted to Carrascosa, with the stipulation that Innes would have Victoria on weekends.

The divorce agreement banned either parent from taking the girl out of the US without the written permission of the other, a

condition Carrascosa's flagrantly violated when she left the country with her daughter for Spain three months after the

divorce.

Innes spoke publicly to rebut "the lies" he says Carrascosa's family is attempting to spread about him, presumably to paint

him as an unfit parent.

"They have accused me of being a drug trafficker, an arms trafficker, of trying to murder my ex-wife, of having multiple

identities. That is all false. I have never been arrested in my life," said the graphic designer.

He says his former wife's legal strategy may be designed to achieve an annulment of their four-year marriage, which ended in

divorce in 2004.

Innes said this would render non-binding the pre-nuptial agreement the couple signed in which they explicitly acknowledge the

jurisdiction of New Jersey for any eventual dispute between them.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news