Washington, December 24: A Brazilian family has delivered a boy to his American father at the US consulate in Rio de Janeiro ending a five-year custody battle, according to Fox News.
A federal court earlier ruled that nine-year-old Sean Goldman must be handed over to his biological father this morning.
Sean’s mother took him on vacation to Brazil in June 2004, but instead of returning to New Jersey, she divorced his father David Goldman and remarried in Brazil.
Sean’s mother, Bruna Bianchi, died last year, but his stepfather, Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, continued to raise him in Brazil.
A Brazilian Supreme Court Chief Justice ruled Tuesday Sean must be returned to his father in the US.
An attorney for the Brazilian family said the decision would not be appealed.
David Goldman’s long struggle to gain custody of Sean had gained the attention of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
—Agencies