Father Who Brought Son Back from Brazil Advocates for New International Child Custody Laws

Two years ago, the eyes of the nation settled on a Tinton Falls father seeking to reunite with his son, who was being held by his ex-wife’s family in Brazil, an arrangement he had not consented to.

David Goldman, who brought his son, Sean, back to New Jersey in 2009, has not given up his fight on international child custody issues, saying that even though his son is back, he does not want other parents to go through what he did. Goldman, who was in Westfield Sunday to discuss his work with “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh Walsh gave, is pressing for new federal laws regarding international child custody disputes.

“I can’t accept that gift of us being together without giving back,” Goldman said in an interview with Patch following the Walsh event.

Goldman is pressing for Congress to adopt a law giving the State Department more tools to handle international child custody disputes. At the center of the legislation he is pressing, Goldman is calling for the creation of an ambassador-at-large in the State Department centered on child custody issues.

Goldman said that while U.S. ambassadors to individual countries can work on these cases, he said that with economic and defense issues at the top of most bilateral agendas, child custody is not a priority. Ambassadors-at-large have been used by the State Department since the Truman Administration to have an official focused on diplomacy regarding specific issues. Current ambassadors at large include those for war crimes and women’s issues. The Obama Administration also has created special envoys to focus on issues including labor affairs, human trafficking and disability.

“The kids are at the bottom of their ladder,” Goldman said of the priorities of ambassadors.

Goldman was propelled into child custody advocacy after his wife, Bruna Bianchi, took Sean to her native Brazil on a two-week vacation in 2004, never return to the United States. After arriving in Brazil, Bianchi informed Goldman that she wanted a divorce and would be living with Sean in Brazil. A divorce was granted in a Brazilian court. Bianchi remarried to a prominent family attorney and died during childbirth in August of 2008. A Brazilian court rules that Sean, who was born in Red Bank, should remain in the custody of his stepfather following Bianchi’s death.

Goldman waged a several month international struggle to regain custody of his son, saying that the Brazilian government was violating Hague treaties dictating child custody to a biological parent. Goldman had not signed over custody of his son at any point prior to Bianchi’s death.

The case resulted in Sen. Frank Lautenberg pressing trade sanctions against Brazil and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Ocean County) focusing on the issue. President Obama raised the issue in conversations with the Brazilian president and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made the case a priority. Goldman was reunited with his son in December of 2009 following a ruling in his favor by the Brazilian Supreme Court.

Goldman said his case is not the only one of its kind involving American children around the world. He said 3,000 children around the world are being held in other countries as part of child custody disputes. He said there is no large cluster in any one country, with many of the 3,000 being scattered around the globe. He said that many countries have either not signed on to the Hague treaties or have been violation of them.

Goldman said one his most immediate concerns is 200 child custody cases involving children in Japan. He said many have been missing following the earthquake and tsunami. He said many of the Japan cases involve the children of U.S. military members who were stationed in the country.

Goldman, who will be testifying before a Congressional foreign affairs subcommittee about the legislation on May 24, said he has not spoken to Clinton about the proposal. He said the secretary of state, who has made children’s issues a centerpiece of her policy agenda dating back to her days as a law student at Yale in the 1970s, will see benefits from the bill he is pushing.

“She will be made aware of it,” he said of Clinton. “Her office of children’s issues needs more tools in their toolbox.”

Among the proposals Goldman is pushing for is automatic notification of impacted members of Congress when the State Department is notified of an international child custody dispute. He said Smith’s work on the issue was helpful in his case and members of Congress can help push trade and foreign aid sanctions against countries in violation of the Hague treaties.

Goldman, who recently on his battle to be reunited with Sean, said one of the reasons he came to talk to Walsh was Walsh’s own work on child safety following the 1981 kidnapping and murder of the television personality’s son, Adam. Goldman said he plans to keep fighting for changes on the law.

“I can’t let it go,” he said.