The Rape Survivor Child Custody Act was signed into law last May by President Barack Obama.
This legislation is to encourage states to create similar laws. Alaska now has SB 162, a bill that I proposed to Alaska state Sen. Berta Gardner last fall. She agreed to sponsor this legislation that will terminate the parental rights of rapists who conceive children through rape.
My daughter is a victim of this sort of crime and she, along with my grandson, will be protected by this proposed law.
As my daughter was only 13 when she conceived her child, she, along with my wife, and myself, have lovingly raised our grandchild for the past six years. He is now being threatened by court order to be placed in the care of the offender’s father in another town. The father, a convicted and registered sex offender, has been granted full, unlimited and unsupervised visitation rights in the same location.
Our family’s rights will be severely restricted. The reason given by the court is that we have failed to encourage a close relationship between the father and child. This is a catch-22, as either way we lose.
Our hope is people like you will contact the members of our state’s legislature in Juneau to strongly support SB 162. Call or email me for further information at [email protected] or (907) 766-3450.
Miles Curtis