Brazil, December 23: The Brazilian family fighting a custody battle over nine-year-old Sean Goldman will not appeal a high court ruling that the child must be returned to his biological father in the U.S, Fox News confirmed today.
Goldman’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.
His mother, Bruna Bianchi, died last year, but Sean’s stepfather Joao Paulo Lins e Silva continued to raise him in Brazil.
A Brazilian Supreme Court Chief Justice ruled Tuesday Goldman must be returned to his father in the United States, Fox News confirmed.
David Goldman’s struggle to gain custody of Sean had gained the attention of President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). Smith traveled to Brazil last week calling the case “child abduction.”
—Agencies