Sex Offender Dad Gets Custody Of His Daughter
A sex offender dad won sole custody of his 6-year-old biological daughter in court.
That’s right. A man who was imprisoned for six years for raping his then 6-year-old step-daughter will get to care for a 6-year-old girl.
Nicholas Elizondo sued for custody of his daughter after his ex-wife Lisa Knight stopped letting him see her.
After one visit with Elizondo, Knight claimed that her daughter Sarah told her that her 19-year-old half brother touched her private parts.
Knight’s attorney, Valerie Williford, believes that Oklahoma County Judge Howard Haralson gave the sex offender dad sole custody because he thought Knight fabricated the entire story.
Williford also believes Haralson had doubts about her parenting abilities after she couldn’t remember all of Sarah’s doctors on the spot.
“Because Mom can’t remember the doctor’s names then she’s a bad Mom? I don’t think so,” Knight’s cousin Jodi Coomer said.
“There isn’t anything prohibiting a judge from giving a person convicted of that once they’ve done their time and they’re off probation or parole,” said Kern County Assistant District Attorney Scott Spielman. “There is a lot to be taken into account, but you’d think that there would be a great deal of weight given to a person that actually was charged and convicted and went to prison for molesting a child under 14.”
Knight and her family, however, have not given up. They are still fighting to get back custody of Sarah because they don’t think she can live a normal life with Elizondo.
“He can’t take her to Chuck E. Cheese. He can’t take her to a park,” said Coomer. “He can’t go to her school. He’s not allowed in school.”
Elizondo was convicted of raping his then 6-year-old step-daughter in 1995 and took a plea bargain. He said he only took a plea bargain because he was facing so many charges.
He said that it never happened and that police encouraged the girl to say incriminating things about him during the investigation. Elizondo completed his parole and probation in 2001.
Do you think it’s fair to grant the sex offender dad sole custody of his daughter?
[Image via Shuttershock]
