## Facts

- The parents were married and had two children: Diane (born 1973) and William Arthur (born 1979).
- The marriage involved frequent conflict and mutual anger.
- The father engaged in severe physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of the mother over an extended period; the abuse negatively affected the children.
- The father used drugs heavily during the marriage and, on at least one occasion, offered drugs to the parties’ daughter.
- In 1985, the mother left New York with the children and relocated to Virginia; she did not disclose their location to the father for about two months.
- The father filed a custody petition in New York, arguing that the mother wrongfully removed the children and denied him access.
- The court found the mother failed to communicate with the father about the children and did not encourage contact, but also found her conduct was strongly influenced by the abuse she suffered.
- During the four-day custody trial, the judge conducted an in camera interview of the children outside the courthouse, in a local park, to reduce distress and encourage candid responses.

## Issues

1. Whether a judge in a custody proceeding may conduct an in camera interview of children outside the courthouse.
2. Whether a parent who unilaterally removes children from the jurisdiction and limits the other parent’s access should be penalized in custody determinations when the move was prompted by serious domestic abuse.
3. Which custody arrangement serves the children’s best interests.

## Decision

- The court held that an in camera interview may be conducted outside the courthouse if procedures protect fairness and permit meaningful review of the interview’s substance.
- The court held that a battered parent’s abrupt relocation with the children to escape severe abuse should not, by itself, weaken that parent’s position in a custody dispute.
- Applying the best-interests standard, the court awarded custody to the mother and granted the father visitation subject to court-approved arrangements and continuing court oversight.

## Legal Principles

- Child custody is determined under the best interests of the child, based on all relevant circumstances.
- A unilateral relocation and temporary withholding of the children’s whereabouts is not an automatic bar to custody; where relocation is driven by serious domestic violence, the court should not mechanically penalize the relocating parent.
- A parent’s domestic violence and drug use are central factors in assessing parental fitness and the children’s welfare.
- Trial courts have discretion to structure in camera interviews to reduce harm to children, including using a non-courthouse setting, provided procedural safeguards (notice to counsel and an adequate record or equivalent disclosure) prevent the interview from becoming unreviewable fact-finding.

## Conclusion

The court awarded custody to the mother because the children’s best interests were served by placement with the parent who provided safety and stability, and it refused to treat her flight from abuse as a disqualifying act; it also approved conducting children’s in camera interviews outside the courthouse when fairness safeguards are maintained.


Desmond v. Desmond, 509 N.Y.S.2d 979 (Fam. Ct. Bronx Cnty. 1986)